S.W. Persia : letters and diary of a young political officer (1907-1942)

This autobiographical fragment relates to the years 1907-14 inclusive which I spent in SW. Persia, save for two short spells of leave at home and a few months with my Regiment in India. It was the centre span of a period of great diplomatic activity which reached a peak, first with the signature of the Anglo-French Agreements of 1904, again with the conclusion of the Anglo-Russian Convention in 1907, and finally in 1914 with the outbreak of war. I was a Lieutenant and not quite 23 when I first went to Persia: I entered the war as a Captain just over 30. From the time I went to Sandhurst in my 18th year, and until I married, I wrote almost daily a page or two of foolscap to my parents recording events as they occurred and the impression they left upon me, inter spersed with many comments and occasional reflections uport current political issues at home and abroad, a few of which I reproduce here, as representative alike of the writer and of his times.