David Buchanan McDowall (born 1945) is a British author specialising in Middle Eastern and British history.
Early life Born in London in 1945, he attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. and St John’s College, Oxford where he studied Islamic History and Modern Middle East Studies under Albert Hourani
Career Royal Artillery, in Britain and Hong Kong, 1965-70; British Council, in Bombay and Baghdad, 1972-77; the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Beirut and Vienna, 1977-79; self-employed thereafter, Oxfam relief worker Lebanon 1982, full-time research and writing from 1983.
Reception
McDowall's 1989 book Palestine and Israel: The Uprising and Beyond received a critical review from Abdulhadi Khalaf in the Journal of Palestine Studies. He criticized what he described as selective use of evidence, unsupported conclusions, and methodological weaknesses, concluding that the work resembled a political commentary more than a rigorously substantiated scholarly study.
On the other hand, it was reviewed favourably by other Middle East specialists:
‘Patrick Seale, writing in The Observer, praised the book as well-researched and recommended it to readers interested in the conflict. (The Observer, 30 July 1989)
‘… both factual and sophisticated… well-written and succinct analytical work…’ Palestinian Professor Ibrahim Abu-Lughod in the Journal of Political and Military Sociology (Journal of Political and Military Sociology, vol. 19 No. 1, Summer 1991)
‘This book should be read by all policy makers.’ Sir Anthony Parsons (Middle East diplomat, foreign policy adviser to Margaret Thatcher), in The Spectator (The Spectator, 5 August 1989, p.30)
Personal life Married to writer Elizabeth Laird, in 1975; two children: Angus, journalist, and William, academic.
Selected publications Middle East
Lebanon: A Conflict of Minorities (Minority Rights Group, 1983), . Palestine and Israel: The Uprising and Beyond (IBTauris, 1989), , University of California Press, Berkeley, 1990), Europe and the Arabs: Discord or Symbiosis? (Royal Institute for International Affairs, 1992), A Modern History of the Kurds (IBTauris, London & New York, 1996, 1997 2000 and 4th ed., 2021) .
Britain
An Illustrated History of Britain (Longman, 1989) Britain in Close-up (Longman, 1993), Hampstead Heath (co-authored by Deborah Wolton, Frances Lincoln 2007),
Children's books
The Palestinians (Franklin Watts, 1986), , winner of The Other Award 1987 The Columbus Project Book (Hodder, 1992), The Spanish Armada (Batsford, 1988), .
British landscape guides
Richmond Park: The Walker’s Guide (1996, 2006), Hampstead Heath: The Walker’s Guide co-author Deborah Wolton, (1998, 2021), The Thames from Hampton to Richmond Bridge: The Walker’s Guide (2002), The Thames from Richmond to Putney Bridge: The Walker’s Guide (2005), Windsor Great Park: The Walker’s Guide (2007, 2021), . Bute: A Guide (2010) West Surrey: Walks into History (2013)
References
External links A Modern History of the Kurds hosted by the Middle East Centre, LSE David McDowall