From Pearls to Oil: How The Oil Industry Came to the United Arab Emirates

by David Heard

From Pearls to Oil is a testament of the challenges contended by extraordinary men who initiated the search for oil in the United Arab Emirates, in the years between the two World Wars. The book features never-before-published copies of letters, notes and reports complementing the research, which itself stems from the archives of the Abu Dhabi Petroleum Company (ADPC) and other literature recorded by British Government officials. With rare photographs, maps and diagrams alongside the in-depth narrative, this book is a great asset for scholars, residents and visitors interested in the history of this land.

624 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Alya AlShaibani · Rating 1 out of 5]

Technically DNF. Read 8/11 chapters and I found it torturous. Skimmed chapters 9-10-11 and most of it was still very similar to the first 8 chapters.

Essentially this entire book was 11 chapters about how British men came to the Trucial Coast and were awful at negotiating. Seemed like they just wanted to chill out here and get paid by "Her Majesty's Government"

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son worked in Abu Dhabi for two years, so I was fascinated to learn more about the region's history. David Heard is a British ex-pat who has lived in the UAE for 30 years, and his account of how the region's wealth came to be is well-documented and highly interesting.