While this book appears dated (1980) the substance of this text revolves around the historical events, places, and personalities which have brought "Arabia" to where it is today, focusing on the crucial historical times of each region, the 1880s, the 1920s, the British departure of 1968-1971. This book remains relevant, and continues to serve as a useful reference to understanding this region.

Awkwardly, Kelly assumes a fair bit of knowledge on the reader's part. The Trucial Coast is introduced and subsequently explored at length as if the reader is fully aware of where it is, how it came about, and of what it consists. Wahhabism, on the other hand, is well explained and would help even a beginner of Middle East studies gain a fair insight into its origin, and relevance. Overall, Kelly too frequently begins a train of thought independent of the background necessary to fully enjoy the generous and elaborate detail into which he delves.

By far, Kelly's most glaring shortfall in this book is the over reliance of verbal descriptions of the geography versus a few good maps. A dominant, if not THE dominant, theme in Kelly's work is the ebb and flow of the people, and their religion, across the land. So much of "The West" (in particular, Britain's) involvement with Arabia over the last two centuries has revolved around the definition and security arraignments of these borders, manifest in the modern era in the form of conflicts related to oil concession rights, and leading to wars in recent history. To this day, many significant borders remain undefined. Yet, his text contains only 5 maps, which together do not nearly cover the breadth of his discussion, and not one of which fully encompasses the theater of its accompanying discussion.

J. B. Kelly's work is fulfilling and exhaustive, but the lack of maps is significantly detrimental. Readers seeking to gain a better understanding of this important region of the world would be well served by J.B. Kelly's Arabia, The Gulf & The West, but should have an atlas or online geography reference to accompany it.

While this book appears dated (1980) the substance of this text revolves around the historical events, places, and personalities which have brought "Arabia" to where it is today, focusing on the crucial historical times of each region, the 1880s, the 1920s, the British departure of 1968-1971. This book remains relevant, and continues to serve as a useful reference to understanding this region.

Awkwardly, Kelly assumes a fair bit of knowledge on the reader's part. The Trucial Coast is introduced and subsequently explored at length as if the reader is fully aware of where it is, how it came about, and of what it consists. Wahhabism, on the other hand, is well explained and would help even a beginner of Middle East studies gain a fair insight into its origin, and relevance. Overall, Kelly too frequently begins a train of thought independent of the background necessary to fully enjoy the generous and elaborate detail into which he delves.

By far, Kelly's most glaring shortfall in this book is the over reliance of verbal descriptions of the geography versus a few good maps. A dominant, if not THE dominant, theme in Kelly's work is the ebb and flow of the people, and their religion, across the land. So much of "The West" (in particular, Britain's) involvement with Arabia over the last two centuries has revolved around the definition and security arraignments of these borders, manifest in the modern era in the form of conflicts related to oil concession rights, and leading to wars in recent history. To this day, many significant borders remain undefined. Yet, his text contains only 5 maps, which together do not nearly cover the breadth of his discussion, and not one of which fully encompasses the theater of its accompanying discussion.

J. B. Kelly's work is fulfilling and exhaustive, but the lack of maps is significantly detrimental. Readers seeking to gain a better understanding of this important region of the world would be well served by J.B. Kelly's Arabia, The Gulf & The West, but should have an atlas or online geography reference to accompany it.