This is a photographic record of Kuwait during the first half of the 20th century. During this period, what was a vulnerable sheikhdom negotiating a precarious independence amongst neighbouring powers (the British in India and the Gulf, the Ottoman Turks in Mesopotamia, and the central Arabian chieftaincies of Ha'il and Riyadh) emerged as a nation state with the highest per capita income in the world. The book represents a visual record of a crucial time before the centuries-old way of life, centred on pearling, fishing, boat-building and trade by land and sea, was swept away. Kuwait's people, with no natural resources of their own, not even fresh water, managed by clever use of their geopolitical position and tradition skills to make Kuwait not only the foremost Arabian port in the Gulf, but also a force to be reckoned with in north-east Arabia. European fascination with the Arab way of life is reflected in the photographs of many renowned travellers, including Freya Stark, Alan Villiers and Wilfred Thesiger.