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Titre
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En
S.W. Persia: A Political Officer's Diary, 1907–1914
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Fr
Le Sud-Ouest de la Perse : journal d'un officier politique, 1907-1914
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Type
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Travelogue
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Identifiant
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LCCN 08031141
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Auteur.e.s
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Wilson, Sir Arnold Talbot (1884–1940)
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Résumé
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En
Posthumously published diary and letters of the British political officer Sir Arnold Talbot Wilson, covering his service in south-western Persia from 1907 to 1914, on the eve of and into the First World War. Written while Wilson served as an air gunner with RAF Bomber Command in the year before his death at Dunkirk in 1940, the diary details his extensive travels around Ahwaz, Shushtar, Dizful, Khorramabad, Burujird, Kermanshah, Bushire, Bandar Abbas, Shiraz, and Isfahan, engaging closely with Bakhtiari, Qashqai, and other tribal chiefs during the period when oil was first discovered in commercial quantities in south-western Persia by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. Wilson later became controversial as acting Civil Commissioner in Mesopotamia after the war, where his direct-rule policies clashed with the Arab-kingdom approach favoured by his assistant Gertrude Bell (author of Persian Pictures, also catalogued in this collection) and T. E. Lawrence; he was later a director of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company and died fighting fascism at Dunkirk. Of relevance for the study of Shi'i religious and tribal life, Wilson's diary documents south-western Persia's Shi'i, Sunni, and religious-minority landscape only in passing (including two brief mentions of Babis and Baha'is), reflecting the primarily tribal-political and later commercial (oil) focus of his role, offering a useful counterpoint to the more explicitly religious travelogues elsewhere in this collection.
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Fr
Journal et lettres publies a titre posthume de l'officier politique britannique Sir Arnold Talbot Wilson, couvrant son service dans le sud-ouest de la Perse de 1907 a 1914, a la veille et durant la Premiere Guerre mondiale. Redige alors que Wilson servait comme mitrailleur aerien au sein du RAF Bomber Command l'annee precedant sa mort a Dunkerque en 1940, le journal detaille ses voyages etendus autour d'Ahwaz, Shushtar, Dizful, Khorramabad, Burujird, Kermanshah, Bouchehr, Bandar Abbas, Chiraz et Ispahan, au contact etroit des chefs tribaux bakhtiaris, qashqais et autres, durant la periode ou le petrole fut decouvert pour la premiere fois en quantites commerciales dans le sud-ouest de la Perse par l'Anglo-Persian Oil Company. Wilson devint plus tard une figure controversee comme commissaire civil interimaire en Mesopotamie apres la guerre, ou ses politiques d'administration directe entrerent en conflit avec l'approche d'un royaume arabe favorisee par son assistante Gertrude Bell (auteure de Persian Pictures, egalement cataloguee dans cette collection) et T. E. Lawrence ; il devint ensuite administrateur de l'Anglo-Persian Oil Company et mourut en combattant le fascisme a Dunkerque. D'un interet pour l'etude de la vie religieuse et tribale chiite, le journal de Wilson ne documente le paysage chiite, sunnite et des minorites religieuses du sud-ouest de la Perse qu'incidemment (dont deux breves mentions des babis et baha'is), refletant l'orientation principalement tribale-politique puis commerciale (petrole) de sa fonction, offrant un contrepoint utile aux recits de voyage plus explicitement religieux presents ailleurs dans cette collection.
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Edition
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Oxford University Press, London
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Date
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1941 (posthumous; events 1907–1914)
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Langue
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En
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Citation bibliographique
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Wilson, Sir Arnold Talbot. 1941. S.W. Persia: A Political Officer's Diary, 1907–1914. London: Oxford University Press.
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Droits
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Public Domain