The A to Z of the Gulf Arab States

Book excerpt: The A to Z of the Gulf Arab States comes at a time when the world's attention is riveted on the Middle East. The small states covered in this volume—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—possess about 20 percent of the world's total oil reserves. Beyond the strategic and economic importance conferred upon them by their vast oil reserves, the Gulf Arab states are worthy of attention for the inherent interest of their history and culture. No area of the world has yielded more revealing and exciting archaeological finds in the past few decades than these states. Investigations have brought to light extensive evidence of an important culture as old as Egypt of the Pharaohs or ancient Babylon, which was virtually unknown previously except through rare references in the records of other civilizations. The A to Z of the Gulf Arab States is a paperback reprint of the Historical Dictionary of the Gulf Arab States. This edition covers the history of the five countries through a chronology broken down by country, a list of acronyms and abbreviations, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and several hundred cross-referenced dictionary entries on important persons, places, and events of each country. Everything from the Abbasids to Zubarah is covered in this essential reference on this increasingly important region of the world.