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From Empire to E鈥慴ooks: Reviving the Writings of Glubb Pash

This blog tells the story of how I brought sixteen of my grandfather鈥檚 works back into circulation. This year marks 40 years since Glubb Pasha鈥檚 death, and 70 since the Suez Crisis and his dismissal from Jordan which began his unexpected second career as an author and public speaker. His writing anticipated themes of the later 鈥渋mperial turn鈥�, examining Middle Eastern imperial history across wide temporal and spatial frames. Glubb鈥檚 writings view the British empire from its periphery, and explore its cultural dimensions. These works, both published and unpublished, form the core of my PhD, which argues that Glubb was not a typical imperial servant but a distinctive colonial intermediary.

Glubb was a military officer and colonial intermediary in Iraq and Jordan from 1920 to 1956 during the height of British influence in the region. Fluent in Arabic and considered an expert on early 20^th-century Bedouin society, he developed close ties with Arab communities, particularly the nomadic tribes of southern Iraq and Jordan.

The indirect and ambiguous nature of British imperialism in Iraq and Jordan allowed Glubb to operate beyond formal colonial structures and distinguish himself from many of his peers. In 1939, he took command of Jordan鈥檚 Arab Legion and served as a key intermediary between Britain and the Hashemite monarchy. The 1948 Arab鈥揑sraeli War brought international attention to both Glubb and the Legion, while also making him a target of rising anti-colonial movements in the region. Eventually this led to Glubb鈥檚 return to England.

Back to his country, Glubb used his reputation to write prolifically and lecture widely on the importance of Middle Eastern history in understanding contemporaneous political events in the region. Glubb鈥檚 linguistic skills allowed him to engage directly with classical Arab historians and scholars, making Middle Eastern history accessible to Western readers. He was also intrigued by the parallels between the Arab and British empires - a reflection of his own attempt to make sense of a life spent in service to an imperial project that was rapidly unravelling.

A lifetime of writing

Glubb鈥檚 autobiographical works fall into two broad periods. His early autobiographies are first鈥慼and accounts of his life in Iraq and Jordan, drawn from diaries, letters and speeches.

In later life, Glubb returned to autobiography with Into Battle (1977), a diary of his service time on the Western Front from. In this period, he also produced several historical works on major figures in Middle Eastern history, as well as works dealing with contemporary regional conflicts. He also produced abridged and revised versions of his earlier memoirs, Arabian Adventures (1978) and The Changing Scenes of Life (1983), incorporating reflections shaped by his advancing years and the collapse of the British Empire.

The path to republishing Glubb鈥檚 books started with an unpublished title, The Fate of Empires, based on an article of the same name written in 1976 for Blackwood鈥檚 magazine. The article clearly struck a chord because for years after Glubb鈥檚 death I received letters from people trying to find copies. In the 2010s, I received encouragement that prompted me to make a serious attempt to bring the manuscript to print. I prepared a proposal and attended the London Book Fair to speak with potential publishers. It quickly became clear, however, that traditional publishing houses were reluctant to take on the work of deceased authors, largely because such titles cannot be promoted through author events or media appearances.

Although that effort ultimately came to nothing, it confirmed my sense that there was still a readership for Glubb鈥檚 earlier books. Shortly afterwards, approached me about reissuing his writing. Specialists in reviving out鈥憃f鈥憄rint titles, Sapere bring strong market knowledge and a clear understanding of their audience. They were looking for a historian with a unique viewpoint on the history of the Middle East and felt Glubb鈥檚 works suited that profile.They focus on the popular market of republishing first-person perspectives of military history and Glubb鈥檚 memoirs of life in World War One and with the Arab Legion proved appealing.For historical and autobiographical works of this kind, their core readership tends to be older and predominantly male - a demographic that aligns closely with those who have long taken an interest in Glubb鈥檚 life and career.

It took almost three years from my initial contact to reissuing the final title through Amazon. Proofreading was the most time-consuming part of the process, removing original photographs and illustrations for copyright reasons, editing out outdated language, and designing and approving new book covers.

For a publisher like Sapere, republishing Glubb鈥檚 works is of commercial appeal. His books are long - which appeals to the reader of history - and the large number of titles means they can be released over a period of time and packaged in series. The revenue streams are diverse and sales are calculated by Kindle pages read, e-books purchased and print鈥憃n鈥慸emand hardbacks and paperbacks sold. The technology allows publishers like Sapere to communicate directly with the target audience and the next phase, later in the year, will be a marketing campaign to target interested readers.

Recent sales patterns have been revealing, with 54% of purchases come from the United States and Japan emerging as a small but growing market. Although the different e-book formats comprise the majority of sales, 40% are in traditional formats of print-on-demand paperbacks and hardbacks. This model significantly reduces financial risk for the publisher, avoiding the need to commit capital to large print runs or storage: an important consideration when working with niche historical material.

Although he never considered himself an academic, Glubb鈥檚 long entanglement with the Middle East, his linguistic expertise, and his engaging narrative style enabled him to make a distinctive contribution as a popular historian. The encouraging sales of these newly-reissued titles suggest that his voice still resonates with those interested in the region and in understanding a colonial intermediary鈥檚 attempt to interpret the end of empire.