PARFIT, Joseph T. Marvellous Mesopotamia the World's Wonderland. London, Partridge, [c. 1920].
8vo. Original cloth, lettered in gilt; pp. 258, sketch maps and plates after photographs; spine a little faded, light offseting from endpapers; a very good copy of a scarce work.
First edition. All we were able to find out about the author is that he was born in 1870 in Bethnal Green and died in 1953. He travelled widely, was Canon of St. George's, Jerusalem, an admirer of Joseph Conrad, and wrote a couple of travel books on the Middle East, all of which are rather uncommon. In this book Parfit analyzes the potential of Iraq as a transport hub between the West and India, as well the country's connection with Central Asia, and analyzes the infrastructure and economy of Iraq under British Mandate. A good deal of the volume is on the Baghdad Railway and possible future economic development.
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