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(Cass Series--Military History and Policy,)

This book offers a comprehensive and challenging analysis of the British defense of Egypt, primarily against fascist Italy, in the critical lead-up period to the Second World War, culminating in the decisive defeat of the Italian military threat at Sidi Barrani in December 1940. The security of Egypt, a constant of British imperial strategy, is a curiously neglected dimension of the still burning appeasement debate. Yet it was a factor which demanded constant consideration by British policy-makers and figured in the crises of the period over Abyssinia, Czechoslovakia, Albania and Poland. By giving equal weight to the perspectives and assessments of the men on the spot, Steven Morewood adds to the originality of his interpretation by suggesting the old view should be reinstated: that Mussolini should and could have been stopped in his empire-building at the Abyssinian hurdle. Thereafter, as Nazi Germany tore the Versailles peace settlement to shreds, the drift to war accelerated as British resolve and credibility were brought into question. The fascist dictators in Rome and Berlin held no respect for weakness and Mussolini became the conduit through which Hitler could apply pressure to a sensitive British interest through reinforcing Libya at critical moments.

The efforts to appease Mussolini are reprised through the prism of the Egyptian dimension. Because of Il Duce's grandiose ambitions to usurp the dominance of Britain and France of the Mediterranean such efforts were doomed to failure. Notwithstanding its manifest imperial over stretch, Britain remained determined to retain axiomatic parts of its empire, not least Egypt. Once Nazi Germany knocked out Britain's key ally the first and only Anglo-Italian war became inevitable. The author considers these developments and the Anglo-Egyptian relationship, wherein Britain was always the dominant partner. Symbolizing that dominance was its ambassador, Sir Miles Lampson, who was also an incessant campaigner to improve Egypt's defenses, provoking ire from the Chiefs of Staff.

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