Suez, Britain’s End of Empire

On 26 July 1956, the British Empire received a blow from which it could never recover, when President Gamal Abdul Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal Company, one of the gems of Britain’s imperial portfolio. Britain, France, and Israel subsequently colluded in attacking Egypt, ostensibly—in the case of Britain and France—to protect the Suez Canal but in reality in an attempt to depose Nasser. The US opposition to this scheme forced an ignominious withdrawal, leaving Nasser triumphant and marking a decisive end to Britain’s imperial era. In this, the seminal work on the Suez Crisis, Keith Kyle draws on a wealth of documentary evidence to tell this fascinating political, military, and diplomatic story. Including new introductory material, this revised edition of a classic work will be essential reading for anyone interested in the history of the twentieth century and the end of empire. Keith Kyle worked as a journalist, broadcaster, author and scholar throughout the world over the course of his long career.