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With World War I and Egypt's colourful politics as background, C.W.R. Long tells the story of four proconsuls (McMahon, Wingate, Allenby and Lloyd), their principal opponent, Sa'ad Zaghul, and the great events of the time: the rise of the Wafd party, the uprising of 1919, the murder of Sir Lee Stack and the Allenby ultimatum. He sheds new light on the strife of members of the High Commission among themselves and the Foreign Office, on the struggle between Egypt and Britain for ownership of the Sudan, on Egypt's fight for independence and on the failure of democracy to take root in the country. List of Abbreviations Introduction Part 1: McMahon 1. Let Everything Slide 2. Treated in a Disgusting Way Part 2: Wingate 3. All this Rush of War Work 4. Fullest Confidence in You 5. Not Perhaps a Very Clever Man 6. There Seems Some Faulty Staff Work Here 7. I Can Do No Nore Than Thank You 8. Unequipped Personally Part 3: Allenby 9. A Man of No Principles 10. Treated Very Scurvily Part 4: Baron Lloyd 11. Arch-Champion of British Firmness 12. Rather Severe Language 13. A Very Serious Misapprehension 14. Something of a Danger Part 5: Postscript Appendix 1: Sa'ad Zaghlul Appendix 2: Egyptian Personalities Appendix 3: British Personalities Bibliography Index C.W.R. Long is a full-time writer on Arab world topics. After Lancaster Royal Grammar School and National Service, he studied Arabic and Persian at St. Catherine's College, Cambridge, and Turkish at McGill University, Montreal. In the 1990s he directed Islamic Studies at Newcastle University, taught at Durham University and travelled regularly to the Middle East.

WITH GBP 350million to his name, he is tagged as Britain's 54th richest man, but even Andrew Lloyd-Webber had to go cap in hand to his bank manager to regain control of his own company. The man behind hit shows Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats and Phantom Of The Opera borrowed GBP 60million from the Royal Bank of Scotland to buy back 181,450 shares in the Really Useful Group. The shares, which represent a 30 per cent stake in the company, give him complete control of the organisation he founded in 1977 to manage his productions. Now, after paying GBP 47million to Universal Studios to buy back his company, he has GBP 13 million of the loan left to help finance the expansion of his empire.

He is paying GBP 46m to buy back the 30pc stake held by Universal Music Group, part of Canadian drinks and entertainment giant Seagram.

A JURY yesterday cleared Andrew Lloyd Webber of stealing the melody for the Phantom of the Opera theme from an amateur songwriter. The delighted composer said after the case, which had taken eight years to come to a final hearing: 'I have been totally vindicated.' The New York jury returned a verdict just two hours after closing arguments concluded and a day after the composer testified and played snippets of the song in court on a small black piano. Ray Repp, the plaintiff who claimed Phantom was based on his 1978 song Till You, stood dejected in the courtroom after the jury had left.

AFTER Andrew Lloyd Webber's last appearance on Top of the Pops, the sales of the single he was performing actually dropped. 'We are not taking a risk appearing with Andrew despite what happened last time,' said lead singer Ronan Keating. 'I'm sure sales will increase.' The single, which has knocked the Spice Girls off the top of the charts, is one of the songs from the multimillionaire's latest musical Whistle Down The Wind. Once again he is due to play keyboards - but there the similarities end.

Jim Steinman is sitting next to Lord [Andrew] Lloyd-Webber in possibly the scruffiest pub in the seediest part of south London. Steinman, one of America's top song writers (the author of MOR hits such as [Celine] Dion's It's All Coming Back To Me Now and the top- selling rock single of all time, Meat Loaf's I'd Do Anything For Love But I Won't Do That), wears an ice-cream cone whip of long grey hair and a fetching tie depicting a skull and crossbones. Lloyd-Webber is wearing brogues and casuals. Jim Steinman has written the lyrics to Lloyd-Webber's new musical Whistle Down The Wind. He knew the 1961 British film version already because \"there was a movie theatre near my house which showed foreign (sic) films and I was in love with Hayley Mills\". Together, he and Lloyd-Webber have transferred this rather soppy story (bunch of Yorkshire kids discover escaped convict and, convinced he's Jesus Christ, shelter him from grownups) to 1959 Louisiana, where the heat, the music and the religion increase its potential.

AT THE Royal Albert Hall tonight, stars from all over the world will gather to sing the praises of Andrew Lloyd Webber. The composer's 50th birthday concert, in aid of the National Youth Music Theatre, of which Lord Lloyd-Webber is the patron, has attracted artists as diverse as Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Elaine Paige, Antonio Banderas, Glenn Close and Donny Osmond. Carping at Lloyd Webber seems to be de rigueur among the chattering classes. In preparing a critical biography of Lloyd Webber, for publication next year, I have grown used to friends, colleagues and people I've never met before, questioning the validity of my task.

ANDREW LLOYD Webber is moving to the other side of the gavel. Last month the composer swooped into a Sotheby's sale, and made off with several daubings, including a GBP 600,000 Millais.