'Fat arse and big thighs never assist horsemanship' was the verdict of General Sir William Furse who watched the young Edmund Allenby riding at Staff College in 1896-7. Six foot, two inches tall, with a 44-inch chest and a hearty appetite for food and drink, Allenby dominated man and horse alike by brute size. His heavy-seated horsemanship did not prevent him from being elected Master of Drag Hounds at Camberley, nor from emerging as one of the last great cavalry commanders. Allenby played three historically significant roles. In the first three years of World War One he served as a front-line commander on the Western Front. Triumphs eluded him but he avoided defeat. Then in 1917-18 he achieved almost miraculous success in Palestine as artificer of victory over the Turks. Finally, as High Commissioner in Egypt from 1919 to 1925, he presided in civilian garb over the troubled beginnings of Britain's 'moment' in the Middle East.

LRB 23 September 1993 | PDF Download