The British soldier John Bagot Glubb (1897-1986) effectively created and commanded the Arab Legion military force in Transjordan and Jordan from 1939 to 1956; subsequently he wrote books and lectured widely.

John Glubb was born on April 16, 1897, at Preston, Lancashire, and educated at Cheltenham College and the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. He then entered the army as a second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers. In World War I he served on the Western front and was wounded three times.

When Glubb arrived in the Middle East in 1920, the area was emerging from centuries of control by the Ottoman Turks and possessed an uncertain and turbulent atmosphere. Glubb quickly earned a reputation as a friend of the Arabs. He lived among the Bedouins, studying their customs and learning their language. The native police force that he organized played a large part in bringing order to the troubled frontiers of Iraq...