Major and minor figures -- Note on sources and methods -- Maps. "To extinguish peace from the Earth": where the Middle East and the world stood in spring 1941 -- "Snares around you. And sudden dread": the crisis begins in Iraq: Linchpin -- "When they ride in the ships, they call upon God": the Indian Army comes to Iraq -- "Hemmed in by the desert": the siege of Habbaniya -- "Summon the people from all over Israel": where they were when they were called to Iraq: Jack Bartlett, David Smiley, Harry Chalk, and the Arab Legion -- "He guides whom he pleases": how Freya Stark came to Iraq -- "Lift up a banner against the walls of Babylon!": Cleveland buses and the Luftwaffe invade Iraq -- "Set thy face against is, and besiege it": the Battle of Fallujah -- "That my wonders may be multiplied": the Battle for Baghdad -- "Go abroad in the land": how they came to Syria-Lebanon: Jack Hasey and Roald Dahl -- "He who practices deceit": Henri Dentz and Rudolf Rahn on the eve of the war for Syria-Lebanon -- "There is no blame on the blind man": the invasion of a global army begins -- "These curses shall come upon you and overtake you": the allies at the edge of defeat -- "They too suffer as you suffer": reinforcements: the Indian Army and the cavalry drive on Syria -- "The beginning and the end" -- Notes -- Acknowledgments -- Index.