Bidspirit auction | The Caliphs' Last Heritage: A

The Caliphs' Last Heritage: A Short History of the Turkish Empire by Lt.-Col. Sir Mark Sykes, illustr., 1915 - The Caliphs' Last Heritage: A Short History of the Turkish Empire by Lt.-Col. Sir Mark Sykes, illustr., 1915 Macmillan, London, 1915. X, 638 p. Colour frontispiece, fold-out colour map. 3 folded maps in rear pocket (here only one) 23 other maps and plans, some in colour, some in partial colour, some b&w. 26 b&w plates. Green cloth hard cover with gold print, size: 22 x 14 cm. Condition: cover worn, rubbed, stained; tears to hinges of spine; some tears and wrinkles to maps; some pages with foxing stains; in rear pocket only one map - Neri to Akra Weight: 1080 gr. By relating the history of Turkey from the earliest known people up to his own time, Sykes hoped to impart to his readers the importance of the Ottoman Empire. But his story is a personal one, including excerpts from his own diaries and experiences in order to add more color and insight to the historical facts. Traveling with his dragoman guide, his English servant, his Greek cook, five Syrian muleteers, and sometimes his wife, Edith, Sykes relates the many adventures of his international group in a wonderfully observant narrative. Colonel Sir Tatton Benvenuto Mark Sykes, 6th Baronet (16 March 1879 – 16 February 1919) was an English traveler, Conservative Party politician, and diplomatic advisor, particularly with regard to the Middle East at the time of the First World War. He is associated with the Sykes–Picot Agreement, drawn up while the war was in progress regarding the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire by the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire, and was a key negotiator of the Balfour Declaration.