Book description
This first part of the autobiography of Dr Sultan bin Muhammad
al-Qasimi spans the years until his selection as ruler of Sharjah as a
young man of thirty-three. It reveals the emergence of the man and the
state, documenting with insight the dramatic palace coups in his own
country and the neighbouring emirate of Ras al-Khaimah and the
struggles for power during the formation of the United Arab Emirates.
Revealing fascinating and untold parts of the history of the Gulf
state, the author's story is told with humour and passion, including
his role in the protests and anti-British sabotage actions following
the tripartite aggression against Egypt in 1956, his brief affiliation
with the Ba'th party and the subsequent attempt on his life by party
zealots in the 1960s, the occasionally baffled British administration
attempting to follow the changing balances in power, and the siege of
the palace in 1972 in which the former ruler of Sharjah was killed.
Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad al-Qasimi (born 1939) has ruled
Sharjah since 1972. He is also the author of The Myth of Arab
Piracy in the Gulf (1986), The British Occupation of Aden
(1992), and The Fragmentation of the Omani Empire (1989).
