Bedouin Command: With the Arab Legion,1953-1956

An eye-opening memoir of service with the Arab Legion in the tense world of the Middle East.

An ideal book for fans of T.E. Lawrence, Andy McNab and Nathaniel Fick.

In the aftermath of his time spent serving with the Commandos in the Second World War, Peter Young became frustrated with the mundaneness of peacetime duties, and so in 1953 he joined the Arab Legion under the command of Sir John Glubb.

Although the First Arab-Israeli War had ended four years before, tensions were still high between Israel and its neighbours by the time that Young entered the region. Over the course of the next three years Young saw the Jordanian Arab Legion grow to a substantial force with modern training and equipment, developing into a powerful counterweight to the rising strength of Israel.

Bedouin Command provides fascinating insight into this remarkable Arabian army which collaborated with its large number of British officers to maintain peace in the Middle East. Yet, Young also explains how this happy relationship ended due to nationalist sentiments rising among the Jordanians leading to the dismissal of Young and his fellow senior officers.

Young’s book is a fascinating memoir of one British officer’s time spent serving in the Middle East. He writes compassionately about his men, who he saw as excellent soldiers, and although he was eventually removed from his position Young’s admiration for the Arab world is clear throughout the book.

“The personal account of a regimental commander in the Arab Legion from 1953 to 1956.” Foreign Affairs