RENTZ, George, et al.

£9,250 · Offered by Peter Harrington

'Umān wa-l-sāhel al-janūbī l-l-khalīj al-fārsī. First edition, simultaneously issued in English, Arabic and Arabic-English versions, never intended for general circulation and therefore scarce. This is a comprehensive study of the states on the Southern shore of the Arabian Gulf from Oman to Qatar, compiled by a team from the Research Division of ARAMCO headed by Arabist George Rentz. Published for the Government of Saudi Arabia, its primary goal was to clarify, on the basis of historical evidence, all the disputed boundaries on the mainland. ARAMCO had been working for a long time to bolster Saudi Arabia's claims to several areas, most important of these being the lands around Buraimi. From 1952 to 1955, this grew into the Buraimi Dispute, pitting Saudi Arabia against Oman (and their respective backers the USA and Britain) against each other. ARAMCO's research division published this second book on the contested borders in the Arabian Peninsula: "a tactical blunder because it confirmed the extent of Aramco's knowledge... the book was withdrawn before general circulation" (Morton, p. 73). The books contains some of the most detailed contemporary information available on the tribes, geography, and political structures of the Arabian Peninsula.

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