Qatar: A Modern History

This book is really well-written and exciting to read. I read this book before beginning a long assignment in Qatar, and found it to be a great introduction and a good way to set the scene. This is a valuable outsider's assessment of Qatari history. As Fromherz notes, "most books on the history of Qatar are themselves products of the manufacturing of cultural tradition," so it is difficult to find a history that has not been sponsored outright by the Qatari government.One note is that this book is not without its own angle on the Qatari state. It has elements of essay rather than just straight-up history (while still significantly more of the latter overall). That being said, I agree in general with the authors' angle and thus wasn't put off by it.Qatar is a really fascinating country, and I hope that Fromherz updates this book regularly, as things in Doha are changing every day.

Thorough and detailed, giving a fantastic background to a small yet intriguing country.

I found this picture of Qatar to be absolutely fascinating. Here is a country where the oil wealth has produced such a bonanza for the indigenous population that a high proportion do not need to work. On native American reservations this sort of thing causes a sense of hopelessness and sometimes leads to suicide. In Qatar the traditional lifestyles based on the extended family seem to have survived remarkably well. What we normally associate with economic growth, the separation of families into smaller and smaller units seems not to have happened. Allen Fromherz's portrait of Qatar is a fascinating account of a country that seems to go against many trends in modern development. I do not think it adequate simply to dismiss Qatar as an oil-rich oligarchy (though it is). Some of the wealth has been channeled to the population as a whole with interesting effects.

Fromherz's book provides an excellent overview of the history of Qatar, a country that has been little studied and infrequently written about by historians. Contextualizing his discussion within an analysis of what 'modernity' means for a Gulf country like Qatar, Fromherz provides an excellent introduction to Qatari history, geography, economy, British involvement in the Gulf, and the rise of the al-Thani family as the rulers of Qatar. If you're looking for an introduction to the history of Qatar, this is an excellent place to start.

Author relied heavily on many anthropologists' thoughts and ideas, but gave no original words himself. Don't bother with this book.

Fromherz does a great job giving the reader a history of this small country in the Middle East. Qatar is an emerging power within the region, but no one has put together a serious review of their past and present before. I have been looking for a thoughtful book to help me understand the country's history and was delighted to find this book. I've recommended it to several people who travel in this region and visit Qatar.

To be blunt, the more I read the worse it got. History should ignite awe; however, for a person who claims to be a historian, Fromherz does not justify his subject.

Very informative though the country is everchanging so some info outdated. Glad I read it before my trip so I was more aware.