the Middle East dominates our thought and Meinertzhagen was a figure in the events leading to the modern difficulties. I believe he had his moment as regards the battle at Beersheba, and I wanted to know more about him. He seems now a dodgier figure than when this book was written, unless the current Wikipedia article is an undetected hatchet job. But he was interesting, and adds to the WWI picture I am forming. ( )