David Heard – författare

Oil Men represents a unique resource for the student of the challenges, both physical and political, of oil prospecting in a region with no infrastructure and no formal boundaries between local power bases. The book charts the slow and unexpected transformation of the emirates from poverty to undreamed-of wealth. Detailed coverage with extensive access to primary sources describes the frequently tortuous negotiations between oil companies, sheikhs and regional political agents, all of whom sought to protect their different vested interests. The author has had full access to company records which are quoted throughout, including progress reports, minutes of meetings, telegrams and other primary sources, which are collected in full in Volume 2.

The Trucial Coast Diaries are the secret reports written in Dubai by the Representatives of the London based group of oil companies, the Iraq Petroleum Company, known on the Trucial Coast as Petroleum Development (Trucial Coast), PD(TC). These men, the authors, were in a unique position to observe the social, economic and political environment of the people then living in the present day United Arab Emirates, before oil revenues led to a dramatic transformation from intense poverty to the great wealth which now permeates every aspect of this society. The diaries, dating from 1948 to 1957, are reproduced here with extensive footnotes added on each page to provide explanation and clarification for readers who may not be familiar with the people, the places and the way of life a long time ago 'on the Coast'. This publication benefits from the unique experience by the author gained after living well over half a century in the Emirates and enjoying the confidence of so many of the people.

The Trucial Coast Political Reports are a unique record of events, commented on by a small group of British men living in Sharjah and Dubai. This was in the years leading up to the commencement of oil exports from the desert of Abu Dhabi. These men regularly met to discuss and negotiate with the Rulers of the Trucial States - sometimes in a state of mutual incomprehension - the conditions under which the Company (Petroleum Development/Trucial Coast or PD/TC) would operate in their various territories. Boundaries and frontiers marked out in the desert were as much a novelty to the Bedouin as the notions of royalties and depreciation were to the Rulers. Men such as Bird, Codrai and Henderson learnt to understand, to some extent, the language and ways of the people of the Trucial Coast. They in turn had to contend with the ways of the legal, financial and business executives in London who tended to see affairs very differently. It is thanks to these Company Representatives living on the Trucial Coast that the bulk of the Diaries was saved. It is due to the efforts of the London executives that much other material was lost in the name of economy of storage space. These Reports record important events as well as the writer's observations. The editor has included some additional material from the PD/TC company files to present a more complete account.

This book is about the experiences of the pioneers who visited the Trucial Coast on behalf of the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC) subsidiary. These men were the first foreigners to carry out surveys in the barren mountains of the north of the Trucial States and the sand dune desert of Abu Dhabi. This book and all subsequent volumes are based on the oil company files which contain the reports and correspondence of these pioneers.From Pearls to Oil briefly introduces the reader to the early history of the oil industry in the Middle East. In those days, the 1930s, the industry was dominated by the Anglo Iranian Oil Company, operating only in Iran, and the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), operating in much of Arabia with the exception of Bahrain, Kuwait and much of Saudi Arabia.With rare photographs and maps alongside the author's in-depth narrative, this book is essential reading for scholars, residents and visitors interested in the history of the United Arab Emirates.