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Author Parsons, Laila, author.

Title The commander : Fawzi al-Qawuqji and the fight for Arab independence, 1914-1948 / Laila Parsons.

Publication Info. New York : Hill and Wang, 2016.

Copies

Location Call No. Status
 New Britain, Main Library - Non Fiction  956.04 P25    Check Shelf
Edition First edition
Description xvi, 295 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-277) and index.
Contents Ottoman officer -- Syria in revolt -- Palestine 1936 -- Baghdad to Berlin -- Palestine 1948 -- Epilogue.
Summary "Revered by some as the Arab Garibaldi, maligned by others as an intriguer and opportunist, Fawzi al-Qawuqji manned the ramparts of Arab history for four decades. As a young officer in the Ottoman Army, he fought the British in the First World War, and won an Iron Cross. In the 1920s, he mastered the arts of insurgency and helped lead a massive uprising against the French authorities in Syria. A decade later, he re-appeared in Palestine, where he helped direct the Arab revolt of 1936. When an effort to overthrow the British rulers of Iraq failed, he moved to Germany, where he spent much of the Second World War battling his fellow exile, the Mufti of Jerusalem, who had accused him of being a British spy. In 1947, Qawuqji made a daring escape from Allied-occupied Berlin, and sought once again to shape his region's history. In his most famous role, he would command the Arab Liberation Army in the Arab-Israeli war of 1948. In this well-crafted, definitive biography, Laila Parsons tells Qawuqji's dramatic story and sets it in the full context of his turbulent times. Following Israel's decisive victory, Qawuqji was widely faulted as a poor commander with possibly dubious motives. Parsons shows us that the truth was more complex: Although he doubtless made some strategic mistakes, he never gave up fighting for Arab independence and unity, even as those ideals were undermined by powers inside and outside the Arab world."-- Provided by publisher.
"The definitive biography of the military leader who stood at the center of Arab politics for four decades"-- Provided by publisher.
Subject Qāwuqjī, Fawzī, 1890-1977.
Generals -- Syria -- Biography.
Israel-Arab War, 1948-1949.
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- Military.
HISTORY -- Middle East -- General.
Qāwuqjī, Fawzī, 1890-1977. (OCoLC)fst00413838
Israel-Arab War (1948-1949) (OCoLC)fst00980263
Generals. (OCoLC)fst00939841
Syria. (OCoLC)fst01208757
Chronological Term 1948-1949
Genre/Form Biographies (OCoLC)fst01919896
Biography. (OCoLC)fst01423686
Biographies.
ISBN 9780809067121 (hardback)
0809067129 (hardback)
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