A. Rush – författare

In these 5000 pages Archive Editions presents a key selection of facsimile original British government documents detailing the history and development of Kuwait from 1899 to modern times. The set includes a map box containing 11 maps dated between 1910 and 1956 including a table of the Al Subah ('Atbi), Ruling Family of Kuwait and a table showing the descendants of Mubarak I (ruled 1896-1915). In compiling this work the editor has selected documents focusing on Kuwait itself - on the events that occurred there and on the lives of the people in the region, including international trade, oil negotiations, Islamic affairs, tribal affairs, labour movements, boundary questions, and the role of the Al-Sabah family. It is intended that the work should function as an aid to scholars and Gulf Arabs, in the absence or unavailability of relevant Arab records.

Archive Editions presents 12 volumes of previously unpublished despatches, diplomatic correspondence and political reports concerning the origins, evolution and legitimacy of the dynasties ruling in the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia. Included are key documents illustrating the role of Kuwait's ruling family, Al-Sabah, and the background to the Iraq invasion of Kuwait in 1990. There is extensive coverage of the Hashimite Royal House of Jordan and historical aspects of the Palestine problem. Much of the documentation is made up of memoranda on ruling family affairs; genealogical tables; confidential profiles and biographical data on emirs, shaikhs, kings and sultans; and Arabic originals of letters since the eighteenth century but there are also reports on the policies of the ruling families regarding dissident Islamic groups and popular demands for political reform.

The contents of this publication have, almost without exception, been selected from primary sources, such as the correspondence of rulers, diplomats and leading authorities on Islamic history and philosophy. On the one hand there are extracts from Varthema, Burckhardt, Richard Burton and other travellers; on the other, huge quantities of highly interesting despatches and memoranda prepared by diplomats and agents sent to the area to monitor events and promote their Government's interests. Of outstanding value are the lengthy comprehensive Pilgrimage Reports that were, until the 1950s, prepared annually by British political staff assisted by Muslims sent specially to Mecca as observers. These have been reproduced in their entirety. The Editor has also made careful selections from recent publications and combined them with media coverage including the text of important broadcasts from Riyadh and Tehran.

Records of the Hashimites is a rare and valuable publication, an encyclopaedia of authentic historical documents, tracing in detail the destiny of the Hashimites, the most ancient and distinguished family in the Middle East. The editors have located diaries, secret reports and a wealth of previously unpublished correspondence - some of it ancient, much of it normally hidden or scattered in obscure archives, some of great political importance and all of historic interest. Records of the Hashimites focuses on the 20th century and provides the reader with a detailed study of the convergence of Hashimite and British interests that led to the Arab Revolt in the First World War and the establishment of Hashimite rule in Iraq, Jordan and, briefly, Syria following the defeat of Turkey.