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Catalog copy from the publishers
Two titles -- ONE BOOK:
City of Gold: Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism - published in North America by St. Martin's Press in New York.
Dubai: The Story of the World's Fastest City - published in the UK and Commonwealth by Atlantic Books in London.
Dubai is everything the Arab world isn't - a freewheeling capitalist oasis in the desert - and in this new book, Jim Krane brings us a boots-on-the ground look at this fascinating city, straight from the heart of Dubai itself. Dubai, just a dusty village in the 1960s, has been transformed into the quintessential metropolis of the future through the vision of clever sheiks, British entrepreneurs, American capitalists who longed for a free market Mecca, and a river of investor money that poured in from around the globe.
What these people created is a tolerant and cosmopolitan city with luxurious resorts, architectural landmarks, and outposts of America's most prestigious companies and universities. It's at once a magnet for the Middle East's intelligentsia as well as one of the most eco-unfriendly places on the planet.
In this compelling new book, Jim Krane charts the history of Dubai from its earliest days, considers the influence of the Maktoum family which has ruled since the early nineteenth century, and looks at the effect of the global economic downturn on a place that many tout as a blueprint for a more stable Middle East.
Published in September 2009
COVER BLURBS
“The history of a little Emirate’s epic transformation, from an impoverished pearling enclave, to the shining city on the hill, is revealed in full detail. Jim Krane is a great reporter, whose journalistic credentials are brought to bear in this unique work that is infused with facts, ample history, emotion and stunning narratives. He leads his audience into the nooks and crannies of the "unknown" Dubai, to reveal the humanity and intrigue that pulsates beneath the surface. He shows how powerful persons with a global reach collaborated to build an economic gem out of the desert. This is a fast-moving Arabian tale, but very much a modern one; not only laden with facts, it is a guidebook and cautionary tale for other developing nations in their quest to rapidly achieve the Western dream.” -- Justin Dargin, Harvard University - author of Desert Dreams and The Dolphin Project: The Development of a Gulf Gas Initiative
"Dubai is fortunate to have as skilled and passionate a chronicler as Jim Krane. The city leaps off these pages with panache, brassiness, splendor and suffering. There is no better book about Dubai, and there may never be." --Jon Alterman, Director of the Middle East Program at CSIS and author of The Vital Triangle: China, The United States and The Middle East
“How did one of the planet’s last unexplored wastelands, for millennia ignored by history, become in just a few short decades the playground of the unimaginably rich? In City of Gold, Jim Krane traces the fascinating and long overlooked history of Dubai, from pirate battles and eccentric British explorers to the glittering spires of a metropolis that emerged from nowhere, in prose as spare and enchanting as a desert fairy tale.” --James Hider, author of The Spiders of Allah: Travels of an Unbeliever on the Frontline of Holy War and Mideast correspondent The Times of London
“A marvelous book. Beautifully written! Jim Krane has written a fascinating account of a Middle East we rarely get to hear about. Jim Krane’s book on Dubai’s rise and fall -- in this era of global financial crisis -- is a cautionary tale for us all.” --Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, NPR Middle East Correspondent
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©2012 Jim Krane