There is an accepted popular myth about recent Middle Eastern history: ever since the days of Lawrence of Arabia, Pasha Glubb and Wilfred Thesiger, the British Foreign Office has been heavily prejudiced in favour of the Arab cause in the Middle East and has been consistently anti-Israel and therefore uneven in its handling of Middle East affairs. The purpose of Dr Lochery's new book is to examine the truth of this myth. In this compact and very readable account of Middle Eastern politics since the Second World War, he focuses mainly on the role of diplomacy. In particular, the relationship between the Foreign Office and the State of Israel is one of the most fascinating untold diplomatic stories of the later twentieth century. One Israeli official once claimed that even apartheid regimes in South Africa were treated better by the British Foreign Office. Since the creation of Israel in May 1948, some twenty-one British foreign secretaries have served in twelve distinct governments have had to deal with Israel with varying degrees of success. The low points have been Robin Cook's visit to Israel in 1998 a classic example of the loathing between Israel and the Foreign Office. Lochery's account is dispassionate and carefully researched. The author has written this book because he believes that the truth must be told.