Qatar: A Modern History, Updated Edition

In the span of a few decades, Qatar transformed from a sparsely populated and economically poor backwater into one of the world's richest states and a key player in Middle East politics. In this groundbreaking history of modern Qatar, Allen J. Fromherz analyzes the country's rise and ongoing challenges within a broader historical context. Drawing on original sources in Arabic, English, and French as well as his own fieldwork in the Middle East, the author deftly traces the influence of the Ottoman and British Empires and Qatar's Gulf neighbors prior to Qatar's meteoric rise in the post-independence era.This book is as unique as the country it documents--a multifaceted picture of the political, cultural, religious, social, and economic makeup of modern Qatar and its significance within the Gulf Cooperation Council and the wider region.