SW. PERSIAA Political Officers DiaryCalcatta MadrasEUMPHEEY
MILFOEDPUBHSHEE TO TEE UKITEESITYPERSIABYSIR ARNOLD WILSONK.C.IJS.,
C.S.I., C.M.G., D.S.O., M.P.So teach us to number our days: that we
may apply our hearts unto wisdomPs. 90. 12LONDON NEW YOBK
TORONTQ1941TOHUGH WILSONMY SON from my example learn the WarIn
Camps to suffer and in Fields to dare, No happier chance than mine
attend thy care.Then, when thy riper years shall send thee forthTo
toils of war, be mindful of my worthAssert thy birthright, an In
Arms be known.Thy Mothers offspring and thy Fathers Son.VERGIL,
Aeneid vn. 48540.DRYDEN Trans.INTRODUCTIONI perceive that there is
nothing better, than that a manshould rejoice in his own works for
that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be
after him ?Ecclesiastes iii. 22.THIS autobiographical fragment
relates to the years190714 inclusive which I spent in SW. Persia,
save fortwo short spells of leave at home and a few months withmy
Regiment in India. It was the centre span of a periodof great
diplomatic activity which reached a peak, firstwith the signature
of the AngloFrench Agreements of1904, again with the conclusion of
the AngloRussianConvention in 1907, and finally in 1914 with the
outbreakof war. I was a Lieutenant and not quite 23 when I
firstwent to Persia: I entered the war as a Captain just overSO.
From the time I went to Sandhurst in my 18th year, and until I
married, I wrote almost daily a page or twoof foolscap to my
parents recording events as theyoccurred and the impression they
left upon me, interspersed with many comments and occasional
reflectionsupon current political issues at home and abroad, a
fewof which I reproduce here, asrepresentative alike of thewriter
and of his times.I also kept a diary, the greater part of which was
fromthe outset official in the sense that the greater part ofjt was
sent every week to my superiors at Bushire andtransmitted by them
to the Foreign Department of theGovernment of India, where it was
printed as part oftheir cProceedings. I made it a rule to retain no
copiesof official documents which, once submitted, became
theproperty of the Government under which I served, but, from my
original diaries and from my letters home, which my mother was at
pains unknown to me to preserve, I have been able to reconstitute a
record of my doings andthoughts, about onesixth of which is here
reproduced inalmost precisely the same unadorned form in which it
wasrecorded, often in camp by candlelight, from day to day.1Here
and there, for brevitys sake, I have summarizedevents and recorded
a few contemporary comments distinguished in print by a slightly
greater interval betweenthe lines. Otherwise the book as a whole
has been compiled in my spare time whilst serving as
AirGunnerofficer in a squadron of VickersWellington Bombers inEast
Anglia. I have not had ready access to my own orto public libraries
and have not been able to check alldates or to verify all my
quotations.
General
Imprint: |
Read Books
|
Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
Release date: |
November 2008 |
First published: |
November 2008 |
Authors: |
Sir Arnold Wilson
|
Dimensions: |
216 x 140 x 22mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover - Laminated cover
|
Pages: |
332 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-4437-2358-9 |
Categories: |
Books >
Humanities >
History >
General
Books >
History >
General
|
LSN: |
1-4437-2358-4 |
Barcode: |
9781443723589 |
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