At the age of only 36, Sir Mark Sykes was signatory to the Sykes-Picot agreement, one of the most reviled treaties of modern times. A century later, Christopher Sykes lively biography of his grandfather reassesses his life and work, and the political instability and violence in the Middle East attributed to it. n n n n The Sykes-Picot agreement was drawn by the eponymous n British and French diplomats in 1916 to determine the divide n of the collapsing empire in the event of an allied victory in n World War I. Excluding Arab involvement, it negated their n earlier guarantee of independence made by the British - n and controversy has raged around it ever since. n But who was Mark Sykes? n n n A century on, Christopher Simon Sykes reveals new facets n of a misremembered diplomatic giant. Using previously n undisclosed family letters and cartoons by his grandfather, n he delivers a comprehensive and humbling account of the man behind one of the most impactful policies in the Middle East. n