Historical Dictionary of the Gulf Arab States

Malcolm C. Peck is a Program Officer at the Meridian International Center in Washington, D.C. He was Director of Programs at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C. from 1970 to 1981, and he served as the Arabian Peninsula Analyst at the U.S. Department of State from 1981-1983. He is author of The United Arab Emirates: A Venture in Unity and is contributor to The World Book Encyclopedia and The Encyclopedia of the Middle East.

The second edition of the Historical Dictionary 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. This expanded second 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.

Part 1 Editor's Foreword Part 2 Preface Part 3 Acknowledgments Part 4 Abbreviations and Acronyms Part 5 Chronology Chapter 6 Prehistory and Ancient History Chapter 7 The Islamic Era Chapter 8 Modern History Chapter 9 Bahrain Chapter 10 Kuwait Chapter 11 Oman Chapter 12 Qatar Chapter 13 United Arab Emirates Part 14 Introduction Part 15 THE DICTIONARY Part 16 Bibliography Part 17 About the Author