Until the 1970s Oman was an isolated, almost medieval kingdom, virtually unknown to the outside world. The 1970 palace coup that brought Sultan Qaboos b. Sa id Al-Sa id to power also brought Oman into the twentieth century. Development programmes made modernization a rapid process, and Oman s location at the entrance to the Straits of Hormuz gave the country an increasing importance to US security interests in the Gulf region. Yet despite modernization, Oman remains an unknown land. This book, first published in 1987, dispels some of the mystery by focusing on the land, the people and the...

This collection gathers together a wide range of titles that detail the history, politics, economics and society of the countries that make up the Gulf region. Written by acclaimed Middle Eastern, American and European scholars, "RLE: The Gulf" is an essential reference resource in the study of the Gulf states.

This book, first published in 1988, compiles selected contributions to a symposium on The Gulf and the Arab World held by the Centre for Arab Gulf Studies at Exeter University, UK, in July 1986. The historical perspective was considered to be a prerequisite for focusing on modern developments, and two chapters are devoted to the coming of both the Arabs and Islam to the Gulf, and a further chapter examines the role of the Ottoman Empire in the region. The remaining chapters concentrate on recent interaction under the broad headings of political and socio-political affairs, demographic...