Sultan's Yemen, The

When the Ottoman empire in the 19th century came to restore direct rule over Yemen, a subject and a period that has received only the scantest attention, the resulting turmoil came to threaten the security of the entire Arabian Peninsula. Caesar Farah describes the various military campaigns to regain control over Yemen, surveying for the first time the increased foreign encroachments by the British in the south and the Italians through the Red Sea, both using client tribes and chieftains to challenge the sovereignty of the Ottomans over the land. He shows how the Zaydi Imams and Isma`ili tribes rose in revolt to gain a measure of autonomy, first against each other then against the Ottomans. In analysing this period, Farah demonstrates how the process of pacification was too costly in expenditures and personnel, costs that the state could not afford. This book's importance resides in the author's access to hitherto unused Ottoman archival documentation, the records of the Ottoman army officers in the field, and the observations of British, German and native Arab authors that provide detailed insights into this critical corner of Arabia. This first hand account of the history of political rivalries and challenges confronting Ottoman Yemen in the nineteenth century will prove an essential tool for scholars and students of the period. an invaluable treatment of the subject . J.E.Peterson The Sultan's Yemen is sure to become an essential tool for historians and students alike. Fred Rhodes, Middle East Journal