4to. 643 pp., half-title, 8 b/w plates, cloth, with a new introduction by J.B. Kelly, index, small mark on margin of page 186, otherwise copy clean & in very good condition, Frank Cass & Co. Ltd, London, second edition, 1966.

Synopsis

Colonel Samuel Barrett Miles of the British Indian Army and Political Service and Consul-General of Muscat and Baghdad. This work was published posthumously by his widow from a remarkable archive of notes, “many of which were jotted down on odd bits of paper as he [Miles] rode through the desert on his camel”. Miles deals with the history of early colonization of the area, the Portuguese, the Yaareba Dynasty, and the Abu al-bu Saeede Dynasty. He discusses commerce in the Gulf in detail, describing the pearl fisheries, the history of the tribes, and the history and geography of Dhofar and Buraimi. The book remains an authority on Omani history and provides a storehouse of knowledge for any reader interested in the Arabian Gulf.