The events in Iraq in 1941 had crucial strategic consequences. The country's oil reserves were a highly coveted prize for the Axis powers, and its location provided a corridor in the defence of Palestine and the Suez Canal. Had Iraq fallen to the Axis powers, Britain could have lost its foothold in the Middle East and the Mediterranean and risked losing World War II (1939-1945). This book examines the strategy and tactics of the Iraq campaign, the role of the Indian Army and the Arab Legion, the nature of expeditionary warfare and the complementary roles of air and land power.

Renowned military historian Dr Robert Lyman sheds new light on the inner workings of Churchill's war cabinet, its relationship with the overstretched outposts of the Empire and how the British Army snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.