This collection examines the role of Britain in the Islamic world. It offers insight into the social, political, diplomatic, and military issues that arose over the centuries of British involvement in the region, particularly focusing on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. British involvement can be separated into three phases: Discovery, Colonization and Decolonization, and Post-Empire. Decisions made by individual traders and high governmental officials are examined to understand how Great Britain impacted the Islamic world through these periods and, conversely, how events in the Islamic world influenced British decisions within the empire, in protection of the empire, and in the wake of the empire. The essays consider early perceptions of Islam, the role of trade, British-Ottoman relations, and colonial rule and control through religion. They explore British influence in a number of countries, including Somalia, Egypt, Palestine, Iran, Iraq, the Gulf States, India, and beyond. The final part of the book addresses the lasting impact of British imperial rule in the Islamic world.

Preface.- Introduction to Part I.- A History of Violence? Islam, British Orientalism, and the Bombay Riot of 1851 – Andrew D. Magnusson.- Instruments of Acquisition and Reflections of Desire: English Nautical Charts and Islamic Shores, 1650-1700 – Alistair Maeer.- ‘Far from the orthodox road’: Conceptualizing the Shiʿa in the Nineteenth-Century – Conor Meleady.- Introduction to Part II.- Allies and Adversaries: Anglo-Ottoman Boundary Negotiation in the Middle East, 1906-1914 – James N. Tallon.- ‘A Test of Support”: British Policy towards the Ottoman Empire, 1913-1914 – Justin Quinn Olmstead.- ‘A Considerable Effect’: Winston Churchill and Wilfrid S. Blunt’s Legacy – Warren Docketer.- Introduction to Part III.- Britain, India, and the Somaliland Campaigns of 1901-04 – Derek W. Blakely.- Legislating Gender in Mandate Palestine: Colonial Laws on Midwifery, Employment and Marriage – Elizabeth Brownson.- Introduction to Part IV.- ‘What Britain has done for Islam’: British Propaganda to the Islamic World during WWII, 1939-1942 – Stefanie Wichhart.- British Encounters with the ‘Islamic World’ 1921-1989 – Pippa Catterall.-