It was an era of dramatic change for the Middle East. The pos/world/ War I collapse of the Ottoman Empire produced five new states — Syria, Lebanon, Transjordan, Iraq and Palestine — but little peace. Violence erupted in Syria. Arabs attacked Jews in Palestine. Iraq broke out in rebellion. Ibn Saud continued his campaign of war and diplomacy. British and French colonial intelligence services scrambled to keep up.

In “Empires of Intelligence,” Martin Thomas notes that the Brits “tended to value classical education and fieldwork experience” (often relying on gifted amateurs like T.E. Lawrence), while the French preferred “professional training in a dedicated colonial training academy akin to the French Ecole Coloniale.”