ABSTRACT
Among the most striking features of P. J. Cain and A. G. Hopkins's two-volume history of British imperialism since the eighteenth century is the vanishing Middle East. Whether it is left out deliberately or only by accident, its absence is certainly odd. Eventually, the British handed over the Middle East to the Americans, a poisoned chalice containing insoluble quarrels among Israelis and Palestinians. The Treaty of Balta Liman of 1837 is described as a British offer that had to be paid for, rather than an Ottoman proposal which required foreign help and so offered the foreigner a reward. The Ottomans merely got more than they bargained for. A notable contribution to Margaret Hilda Thatcher's new view of modern British history, it takes for granted –and the leaderene herself knew better – that capitalist gentlemen necessarily share the opinions of gentlemen capitalists.
