Clive Jones is Professor of Regional Security (Middle East) in the School of Government and International Affairs at Durham University and Visiting Research Professor in the Department of Historical Studies, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, he has published widely on the history and politics of the Middle East with a particular focus on Israel/Palestine and the Gulf. His book Britain and the Yemen Civil War (Sussex Academic Press, 2010) was the subject of a BBC documentary.

• Preface1. From the Cradle to Palestine2. From Palestine to Abyssinia3. Desert Wars4. From the Regular to Irregular5. A Matter called ‘Concensus’6. Three Majors. Two for Politics, One for Fighting7. Burnt but Alive8. Between Ubon and a Hard Place9. From Espionage to Sabotage10. Subversion and the Ceremonial11. As Tough as Teak12. Our Man in the Yemen13. An Uncomplicated PatriotAcknowledgementsBibliography

Clive Jones has written a fascinating account of a regular/irregular soldier who was involved with some of the key British special operations in the Balkans and Arabia from 1943 to 1968. Smiley, with his obvious code-name ‘Grin’, was a no-nonsense man, who was modest about his remarkable exploits in the best tradition of the British Army.