FATHER AND THE KING

I couldn’t help but be more than interested in your “Endpapers” citation of Daniel Moynihan’s forthcoming book, “On the Law of Nations” (“How Mesopotamia Became Iraq (and Why It Matters)” by Jack Miles, Sept. 2). The photo of King Hussein of the Hejaz immediately rang a bell and sent me to my old photo album where I found the enclosed photo.

I went to Cyprus when I was 6 (1926); my father was working as managing director of Cyprus Mines Corp. (started by Harvey Mudd). One day we had a visitor at the mines who, my father told me, was “the King of the Hejaz.” It didn’t mean much to me at the time, but I did remember his gentle face and demeanor and the fact that he was in exile.

Your article has put things back into perspective and I have been reading Fromkin’s “A Peace to End All Peace” as well as Bullock’s “Allenby’s War,” which refers to Hussein’s exile in Cyprus after he incurred the displeasure of the British.

The photo (above) shows my father (James L. Bruce) taking the old king on a tour of the copper mines. Father is on the extreme left.

JAMES S. BRUCE

SAN MARINO