A memorial volume for David Gore-Booth. "Its objective is to provide an authoritative record of the political, commercial and cultural relations established between Britain and the countries of the Arab Gulf over a period of 400 years, to assess the state of the relationship today and to identify some of the opportunities ahead"--Pref.
The affinity which draws together the British and the Arabs, above all the Arabs that belong to the desert tradition, is famous, ancient, and wonderfully mysterious. Britons - al Inglees - and Arabs, as a rule on each side persons of quality, breeding, distinction of mind, and authority, have found delight in the mutuality of their understanding and common graces, as they have engaged with one another politically, economically, and culturally. In short, they have enjoyed, and enjoy to this day, a centuries-old friendship.
This book, An Enduring Friendship, is dedicated to, indeed inspired by, the memory of one such Inglisi Arabist, the diplomat David Gore-Booth, who died aged 61 in 2004. Gore-Booth's penultimate post was as Britain's Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. His 34-year career, ending with his role as High Commissioner in India, was "by turns glittering and controversial", in the words of his obituarist in the Daily Telegraph. His essay, 'The Middle East - Myths and Realities' , appearing here - posthumously - for the first time, is arguably both glittering and controversial.
It is followed by a series of short essays exploring this Anglo-Gulf affinity within the context of individual Arab countries of the region by an array of British ambassadorial talent. An equivalent array of talent and experience, in the form of tributes to Gore-Booth from five oustanding pleipotentiaries in London from the Arab states of the region, completes the work, together with an encomium from a former British Foreign Secretary, Lord Howe.
