Dhofar War

Finalist for the SAHR Chapple Prize for Best First Book on British Military HistoryBetween 1965 and 1975, Britain discreetly supported the Sultanate of Oman in achieving a historic Cold War-era counterinsurgency win in its remote Dhofar Province. To date, this role has traditionally been represented either in terms of a narrow operational success or has been reduced to one of failure-oriented peripheral player. The Dhofar War: British Covert Campaigning in Arabia 1965 1975 re-examines the historical record to present a more balanced verdict of the war and the overall importance of the UK s role. In an original approach, the author puts forward the case that the hitherto undersold scale of UK military and non-martial assistance to Oman during the Dhofar War was the primary war-winning factor. Alongside this, he makes the key assertion that Britain s role changed significantly throughout from dominance in facilitating the war s prosecution, to one that was more advisory or support oriented as the Sultanate fought back against a communist-backed insurgency.With in-depth research undertaken in archives and collections in the UK and Oman, the author caters for a broad international audience. The book will be of interest to students and scholars of military, counterinsurgency and Middle Eastern/Arabian Peninsula history, the military and governmental policy community, and members of the public with an interest in this region s history.