Prepared under the direction of the Historical Section of the Foreign Office, the aim of these handbooks was to provide British delegates to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 with detailed information on the geographical, economic, historical and political aspects of the countries concerned. The volumes offer a wealth of authoritative information provided by the Intelligence Divisions of the Admiralty, the Military and the Foreign Office. This three-volume set covers the countries and issues relating to the Middle East and North Africa including Turkey, Syria, Persia and the Persian Gulf, Palestine, Mesopotamia and Armenia.

This edition which is thematically arranged for the first time, is introduced by William Roger Louis, a leading authority on the British Empire and Commonwealth and decolonization.

Sir George Prothero was President of the Royal Historical Society (1901-5). At the outbreak of World War I, he worked as Historical Advisor to the Foreign Office and attended the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 in that capacity. He was the first Professor of Modern History at Edinburgh University. He was knighted in 1920.

William Roger Louis holds the Kerr Chair in English History and Culture at the University of Texas, Austin. He is past President of the American Historical Association, the present Director of the ASA's National History Center and the former Chairman of the Historical Advisory Committee, US Department of State.