This report was produced for the Middle East Supply Centre, an institution set up by the British in 1941 to supply and/or keep supplies for basic life needs open to populations in the Middle East over which Britain had control. This is the first in a series of four. (The second volume is on non-agricultural scientific surveys of the Middle East.) This report identifies problems for agricultural development, including social factors, scientific and technical problems such as soil quality, and farmer information about new techniques.

A fresh look at the effects of war on state and society in the Middle East, challenging traditional assumptions based on European experience. The authors argue that war has destabilized Middle Eastern states and eroded national cohesion.

Challenging the claim that Palestine's peasant economy progressed during the 1920s and 1930s, Amos Nadan skillfully integrates a wide variety of sources to demonstrate that the period was actually one of deterioration on both the macro (per capita) and micro levels. The economy would have most likely continued its downward spiral during the 1940s had it not been for the temporary prosperity that resulted from World War II. Nadan argues that this deterioration continued despite the British authorities' channeling of funds from the Jewish sector and the wealthier Arab sectors into projects for the Arab rural economy. The British were hoping that Palestine's peasants would not rebel if their economic conditions improved. These programs were, on the whole, defective because the British chose programs based on an assumption that the peasants were too ignorant to manage their farms wisely, instead of working with the peasants and their own institutions.

In this ground-breaking authoritative study, a highly documented and incisive analysis is made of the galvanising changes wrought to the people and landscape of British Mandated Palestine (1929-1948). Using a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach, the book’s award-winning author examines how the British imposed their rule, dominated by the clashing dualities of their Mandate obligations towards the Arabs and the Jews, and their own interests. The rulers’ Empire-wide conceptions of the ‘White man’s burden’ and preconceptions of the Holy Land were potent forces of change, influencing their policies. Lucidly written, Mandated Landscape is also a rich source of information supported by numerous maps, tables and illustrations, and has 66 appendices, a considerable bibliography and extensive index. With a theoretical and historical backdrop, the ramifications of British rule are highlighted in their impact on town planning, agriculture, forestry, land, the partition plans and a case study, presenting discussions on such issues as development, ecological shock, law and the controversial division of village lands, as the British operated in a politically turbulent climate, often within their own administration. This book is a major contribution to research on British Palestine and will interest those in Middle East, history, geography, development and colonial/postcolonial studies.