Name: In the Service of the Sultan
ISBN: 9781844154678

Ian Gardiner

'In the Service of the Sultan' tells the largely unknown story of a small number of British officers who led Muslim soldiers in this hard fought anti-insurgency war which has shaped today's Gulf.

A First Hand Account of the Dhofar Insurgency

In the Service of the Sultan

Félix

Ian Gardiner wrote an interesting book about his time as a soldier on the side of the Sultan of Oman in the Dhofar war. He gives his perspective clearly and precisely, giving the reader an insight into this rather unknown conflict. The detailed narrative is peppered with exciting anecdotes, emotions, and military lessons.

Unfortunately, the narrative suffers from a few shortcomings. For example, there is no recognizable thread, the events are rather arbitrary thematic summaries without any real chronological stringency. After a few chapters, I lost the overview of where we are now, the context, and what exactly is going on.

Other protagonists, i.e. acquaintances of the author, are mentioned by name, but they are never really introduced or characterized. Gardiner often describes the actions of different people in one sentence. With a bit of luck, you will have read a passage about the person before and somehow recognize (mostly) him, but most of the time you won't know anything about him except his name. "Person A just did B." That takes a lot of depth from the story.

In the end, I also think it's a shame that Gardiner rarely deals with a different perspective having written this book in retrospect. The rebels are and will remain “adoo” (Arabic for "enemy") - that is, anonymous opponents and nothing more. They become dehumanized and the conflict told is reduced to cold, military action.

All in all, a short, crisp book, which shows the Dhofar war from the perspective of a young British officer.

In the Service of the Sultan A First Hand Account of the Dhofar Insurgency

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