King Faisal I

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE

PAST & PRESENT

OF THE

KINGDOM OF IRAQ

By:
 A COMMITTEE OF OFFICIALS
 

BALTIMORE (U.S.A.):     First Edition  1946

Publisher/Year: BALTIMORE (U.S.A.), Lord Baltimore Press, First Edition 1946. Binding: Original Cloth Hardcover, Large Format 25x18 cm. Pages: 118 Illustrations: 50 photo illustrations, and map. жжж    Please see book CONDITION at end    жжж

VERY SCARCE

Printed in the U.S.A. for the

IRAQI GOVERNMENT

HISTORY, ART, CULTURE

of IRAQ

With Many
Fascinating Photograph Illustrations
from all Around the Country
more than 60 Years Ago

From Preface ...

ABC An attempt has been made in the following pages to present to the English-speaking world the picture of a young and progressive nation.
Iraq was one of the several Arab provinces liberated from the Ottoman Empire in the First World War. The political settlement which followed did not embody the fullest realization of the aspirations for which the people fought on the Allied side during the war, but considerably fell short of it. Nevertheless Iraq continued its efforts in the subsequent years. It became a kingdom upon the accession of King Faisal the First to the throne in 1921. During the next ten years she made great progress and reached a high enough standard of government efficiency and stability to be admitted to the League of Nations in 1932 as an independent sovereign state.
With her sister states of the Arab East she now awaits the day when the historical and cultural identity of the Arab peoples will finally attain economic unity and political expression. Meanwhile she has followed her traditional inclination by linking her fortunes with the great democracies by ranging herself beside her Allies in the war against aggression.
This little handbook is not intended to describe the completion of a task. On the contrary, every citizen of Iraq realizes that what has so far been achieved is the establishment of Iraq as a recognized member of the civilized family of nations which is only the first stage.
Iraq is now equipped with a framework of laws which have cleared the path for social and individual progress. By trial and error she is evolving an administrative machinery which will be capable of interpreting in a practical manner the growing demand of the younger generation for a national effort to raise the country's standard of living and administrative efficiency.
But there is no intention in the following pages to ignore Iraq's shortcomings or to minimize the tremendous task that lies ahead. Therefore, if a note of self-satisfaction or complacency is to be found in this book it is entirely confined to what has been accomplished in the past. This achievement can only be adequately gauged by cornparing the state of the country in which it emerged from the First World War with its state today bearing in mind the difficulties and vicissitudes that the young nation has had to face during that period.

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Aerial View of Central Baghdad

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Contents ...

Chapters

List of Illustrations

1. Foreword

2. The Royal Family of Iraq

3. The Land

4. History Up to 1914
   History 1914 to 1944

5. The People
   The Women of Iraq

6. Government and Justice

7. Finance
   1. General
   2. Currency and Banking
   3. Public Debts
   4. Budget and Accounts
   5. Conclusion

8. Commerce and Industry
   Oil
   Dates
   Tobacco

9. Agriculture

10. Irrigation

11. The Arab Horse

12. Other Live Stock
    Game

13. Transportation
    Railways
    Roads
    Waterways
    Civil Aviation
    Basra

14. Education
    Historical Background
    Today
    Fine Arts

15. Antiquities

16. Health and Medicine
    Malaria

17. Architecture and Town-Planning

18. The Iraq Army

19. Police

20. Iraq and World War II

21. Iraq and Post-War Reconstruction

Bibliography

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Holy City of Kerbela

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Illustrations ...

1. His Majesty King Faisal II

2. His Royal Highness the Regent and Crown Prince Emir Abdul-llah

3. King Faisal I

4. King Ghazi I

5. King Ali

6. Date Palm Trees

7. Amadiyah (A Kurdish Northern Village)

8. The Bull, an Assyrian Statue

9. Ruins of Babylon

10. Reconstruction of Babylon Showing the Hanging Gardens and the Tower of Babylon

11. Arch of Ctesiphon

12. Aerial View of Al-Malwiyah, at Samarrah

13. Sepulchre of Ali Ibn Abi Talib, Al Najaf

14. Holy City of Kerbela

15. Al Mustansiriyah

16. Armed Arab

17. A Kurd

18. School Girls in Swedish Exercises

19. Nurses of the Royal Hospital

20. Wedding at Telkaif

21. Kurdish Mountaineers

22. Iraqi Girl Speaking

23. Partial View of Parliament

24. Oil Pipe Lines

25. Harvesting Dates

26. Cotton Plantation

27. Ancient Irrigation Device

28. Hindiyah Dam

29. Arabian Horse

30. Mosul Railway Station

31. Large Bus for Desert Transport

32. The Tigris at Night

33. Baghdad River Front

34. Basrah Airport

35. Port of Basrah

36. The Gold Cylinder Seal and Lyre from the Royal Graves at Ur of the Chaldees B.C. 3000-2750

37. Historical Pottery

38. Historical Arms

39. Pieces in Iraqi Museum

40. Toys Excavated from Wasitt

41. Aerial View of Al-Ukhaidir Palace

42. Aerial View of Baghdad

43. (The White Palace) Government Guest House

44. Sepulchre of Musa Al Kadhim

45. Mosque of Al Kadhimain

46. King Faisal II Square, Baghdad

47. Sa'adoun Avenue, Baghdad

48. The Royal Guard

49. Army Artillery

50. Illustrated Map of Iraq

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Partial View of Parliament
 

His Royal Highness the Regent and Crown Prince Emir Abdul-llah
 

King Faisal II Square, Baghdad
 

Sepulchre of Imam Musa Al Kadhim
 

Sa'adoun Avenue, Baghdad
 

A Kurd
 

Nairn Large Bus for Desert Transport
 

Wedding at Telkaif, near Mosul
 

Arabian Horse, Winner of Baghdad Race
 

The Lyre from the Royal Graves at Ur of the Chaldees B.C. 3000-2750
 

Nurses of the Royal Hospital 
 

Illustrated Fold-Out Map of Iraq
 

The Royal Guard

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Condition ...

Few spots on cover, otherwise book in very good condition.

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