Robert S. G. Fletcher, Associate Professor of Britain and Empire, University of Warwick

Robert Fletcher grew up in Colchester, Essex, and studied Modern History at Magdalen College, Oxford. Between 2005 and 2007 he worked in Tokushima, Japan, before returning to Magdalen to read for a doctorate. He has held appointments as a Research Fellow of Nuffield College, the Fleet Fellow at Princeton University, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Global History at the University of Oxford, and as Lecturer in Imperial and Global History at the University of Exeter. He joined the University of Warwick in 2015. His research combines an interest in the history of empires, nomadic peoples and desert environments in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His work on both arid and maritime frontiers has appeared in Past and Present and The English Historical Review.

"In this interesting, thoroughly researched, and very thought-provoking book, Robert Fletcher explores the phenomenon of 'the Tribal Question': an empire-wide debate over the nature of nomadism, the future of arid environments, and the challenges both posed to the perpetuation of British rule." - Middle East Journal

"a valuable contribution ... Its broad, deep, and insightful survey ... thus enriches the historiography of the British Empire and, by extension, of the critical period of state formation in the former territories of the Ottoman Empire ... it adds nuance, detail, and context to our knowledge of Britain's brief imperial adventure in the deserts of the modern Middle East." - Kevin W. Martin, American Historical Review

"Robert Fletcher's excellent book is an important and highly original contribution ... Drawing on an impressive range of archival research, he argues convincingly that the British empire's desert corridor, which ran from Egypt to Iraq, was a critically important transnational zone of British imperial power ... His book provides one of the first attempts to delve into the nitty-gritty of interwar imperial power across the Middle East." - James Renton, Twentieth-Century British History

"A vibrant and critical re-evaluation of British Middle East imperial policy ... Fletcher's contributions greatly enhance not only our understanding of the Middle East during the interwar era of the twentieth-century, but he also provides an essential framework for analysing the contemporary twenty-first century conflicts now unfolding in Syria and Iraq. Clearly this book is an important and substantive work that belongs on the shelves of every academic library. At the same time, it should be included in the class syllabi of courses on recent Middle East history and politics and read by every individual interested in contemporary Middle East policy development." - David K. McQuillkin, Itinerario

"A marvellous piece of work ... Fletcher genuinely manages to help us see the interwar empire in a new way" - Susan Pedersen, Columbia University

"Fletcher's detailed and thoughtful account of British desert administrators fills in the picture of Bedouin life between the wars, as well as alerting readers to the complexity of colonial governance, and thus is a valuable contribution to the literature of the desert." - Philip Carl Salzman, Nomadic Peoples

"In this fascinating book, Robert Fletcher offers an innovative approach to the study of the British Empire in general and British colonialism in the Middle East in particular during the inter-war period ... Fletcher's book represents a remarkable intellectual enterprise. Scholars of British imperialism and British rule in the Middle East in the inter-war period will greatly benefit from its findings and insights. It is to be hoped that it will receive the attention it deserves." - Yoav Alon, English Historical Review