Polly A. Mohs, ‘Military Intelligence and the Arab Revolt’

I read this recently, while preparing talks for an Arab Revolt battlefield tour in Jordan.

The title led me to hope that Polly Mohs might have unearthed lots of significant WWI intelligence documents that I had missed during my research for Lawrence of Arabia, The Authorised Biography. However, that kind of information - if it survives at all - is notoriously hard to find. The great strength of this book lies in its intellectual analysis rather than new material.

Mohs’ thesis is original and impressive. At one level she discusses the extent to which day-to-day intelligence influenced decisions in the field. At another she assesses the role of the Arab Bureau, an intelligence department, in directing British support for the Arab Revolt - and thereby influencing the course of the revolt during the critical period up to the summer of 1917. There are numerous references to T. E. Lawrence, one of the central figures in the analysis.

The study ends with capture of Akaba. Thereafter, British liaison with Feisal’s Northern Army passed to Allenby’s GHQ.

This kind of tightly focused analysis often reveals truths that more general historians overlook. For that, I think we should be grateful for Mohs’ work. On the other hand, just occasionally I felt that filtering out context had led Mohs to a conclusion that the evidence did not really justify.

Overall, I found Polly Mohs’ arguments convincing. Moreover, she has a talent for writing concise, balanced summaries of complex historical events and situations. That on its own would make this book well worth reading.

Which brings me to a thorny issue: the book is published by Routledge at £70.00. At that price, few people will see it.

In academic publishing it is usually the publisher rather than the author who sees any profit. The author (generally a salaried academic) often gets no payment at all.

Surely, there are overwhelming arguments for publishing this kind of study freely on the web, where it can benefit a far wider audience and earn the recognition it deserves.

Jeremy Wilson

Publisher’s description

Polly A. Mohs, Military Intelligence and the Arab Revolt: The First Modern Intelligence War
London, Routledge, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-415-37280-0
Hardback, xviii+238 pages, £70

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