Kitchener as Proconsul of Egypt, 1911-1914

Book excerpt: This book covers the tenure of Kitchener as Proconsul in Egypt in the years preceding the First World War. Based mostly on unpublished sources – including government records and private papers – it not only fills a gap in the life and career of Kitchener, the most famous soldier in Britain since Wellington, but it also deals with an important but practically unknown period in Egyptian history. George Cassar shows Kitchener to be an ardent imperialist, but one who had a sense of responsibility to the country he governed. Exchanging his field marshal’s uniform for the dress of a statesman, he arrived in Egypt when British prestige was at a low point on account of his predecessor’s policies. He restored political stability, created conditions that bolstered the economy, and introduced a wave of reforms. Kitchener as Proconsul of Egypt, 1911-1914 reveals how Kitchener’s interest extended beyond Egypt, and how throughout these years he worked quietly to prepare the ground in an attempt to create an Arab Empire under Britain’s suzerainty.