I. The Nasser threat -- Anthony Eden : Suezcide of a statesman -- Macmillan's hot pursuit of Nasser -- Douglas-Home's war in Yemen -- II. War, peace and oil -- A tale of two kisses : Harold Wilson, George Brown and the Middle East -- Heath's day of atonement -- Callaghan's 'local terrorist made good' -- Arms and the woman : Margaret Thatcher and the Middle East -- III. The Iraqi wars and their aftermath -- Major's safe haven --- The next stage of evil : Tony Blair and the Middle East -- In Blair's shadow : Gordon Brown and the Middle East -- Cameron and the Arab Spring.

"Britain shaped the modern Middle East through the lines that it drew in the sand after the First World War and through the League of Nation mandates over the fledgling states which followed... Nigel Ashton explores the reasons why British leaders have been unable to resist returning to the mire of the Middle East, while highlighting the misconceptions about the region which have helped shape their interventions, and the legacy of history which has fuelled their pride and arrogance. Ultimately he shows how their fears and insecurities have made them into false prophets who have conjured existential threats out of the sands of the Middle East."-- Taken from dust jacket.