For those who come to the United Arab Emirates, staying in luxurious air-conditioned hotels and visiting ultra-modern shopping malls, the country appears an enigma, a glass and concrete fabrication that seems to have sprung from the desert overnight. Keepers of the Golden Shore looks behind the glossy facade, tracing the history of the region from its beginnings in nomadic tribes to the affluent society of today, casting a new and revealing light on a much-misunderstood land. On 2 December 1971, the United Arab Emirates was born; Great Britain signed a Treaty of Friendship marking the end of its presence in the region. Many thought it was doomed to fail, and yet nothing can be taken for granted in this land of mirages and hidden treasures. Across the spread of its deserts, mountains, islands and seas, the UAE has a rich and diverse history.From ancient people who emerged from the desert to settle there, through many invasions and wars, myths of piracy and the allure of pearls, to the arrival of oilmen drilling beneath the dunes in the stifling heat, Keepers of the Golden Shore tells the extraordinary story of how the Emirates evolved from an impoverished tribal society to become one of the richest countries on Earth today.
