'Rashid's Legacy': a great summer read

Mr. Wilson charts the entire history of the Maktoum family and its business savvy approach to running a city that has transformed what was a small, impoverished town of 30,000 people not much more than 40 years ago into a modern, international hub city with a population of over 1.3 million.

For the success of Dubai really is down to the success of the Maktoum family as rulers. But like any phenomenon that appears an overnight success, the history of Dubai reveals a far longer road of visionary super-investments and the willingness to do things differently.

At the turn of the century Dubai struck a major deal transforming its importance as a port with the granting of tax concessions and a virtual free port to Iranian merchants suffering under an anti-commercial regime. In doing so the Maktoum family established the reputation of Dubai as a safe haven for business.

Infrastructure super-investments

This tradition helped Dubai to survive the rigors of the Great Depression and the collapse of the pearl industry. It also meant that when oil wealth came later the money was invested wisely into infrastructure.

Such investment brought its own luck. For example, just as the $3 billion new Jebel Ali Port was completed in 1980, the Iran-Iraq War started bringing a surge in business as big ships could not go further up the Gulf. Earlier the dredging of The Creek and the Port Rashid development project had also benefited from timely booms in Gulf shipping.

Mr. Wilson highlights many such examples and anecdotes which affectionately portray the development of Dubai. Indeed, this is a timely reminder at a time of great prosperity that Dubai has been proactively developing its infrastructure and encouraging expatriates and multinational companies to settle in the emirate for generations.

This book is also particularly strong on the events surrounding the creation of the United Arab Emirates in 1971 and the early years of the federal union.

Building a nation from nothing

It is hard to believe that the UAE started as a blank slate only 35 years ago with no government departments, and the youngest cabinet in the world. Aged just 22 the present Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum was the youngest Defense Minister in the world and used to intervene personally to stop tribal infighting.

Likewise his brothers were extremely young to be Prime Minister and Finance Minister. Yet they worked to create a country which is now a model for peace and security in the Arab world. But they created it literally from scratch in cooperation with Abu Dhabi and the other five emirates.

This is a useful book to get a sense of perspective on what has happened in Dubai and the UAE. The truth is even more astonishing than much of the hype. It is just a shame that the last few chapters seem to be regurgitated from press releases found on AME Info, but the website is credited as a source and earlier chapters show much original research.