A beautiful guide to the Iraqi capital, “…prepared not only for the casual visitor but also for the resident.” (p.W). It contains a wealth of information on the climate, appropriate dress, currency, transportation, hotels, sites of interest, cinemas, churches, mosques, and, last but not least, bookshops (listing establishments for English and Arabic-language browsing). The editor, Memdouh Zeki, was a resident of the city and contributed lively articles to The Iraq Times (offprints of which can be found in the British Library).
Published in the same year that Faisal II commenced his active rule as King of Iraq, it provides a picture of Baghdad in its last decade of Hashemite rule. Though it eschews any mention of the tensions of the period, the numerous references to British institutions (understandable for an English-language guide) point toward the entrenched British influence in Iraq, which was the primary stimulus for the anti-imperialists’ protests and eventual overthrow of the (British-backed) monarchy in the 14 July Revolution.
Scarce. LibraryHub locates two copies, at the Royal Asiatic Society and Exeter. OCLC adds three more, at Leiden University, Würzburg University and the Library of Art History (Berlin State Museums).
