I have been researching for a number of years the history of British Mandate Palestine (1921-47) and I will be setting my new book against this backdrop. What occurred in those fateful years has had a major influence on what happened subsequently and is directly relevant to the conflict between Israel and Palestine which is being fought out tioday with tragic consequences in Gaza (a place I have visited a number of times). British archival resources on the modern Middle East are truly amaz…