Discovering Qatar

Product Description

Discovering Qatar evolved from a series of features on the archaeology, natural history & traditional life of Qatar that Frances Gillespie began publishing in a national newspaper in the late 1990s. There was little available on these subjects for the general reader, & many people, especially those involved in education, asked for them to be compiled into a book. The author had no idea at that time what the demand would be, & hoped that, perhaps, a few hundred copies might find a market. Two reprints & 12, 000 copies later, the time has come for a thoroughly updated edition of the book, with new & enhanced illustrations, & including the latest information on such fascinating topics as the whale sharks which congregate in large numbers in an off-shore oil field, the presence of which had not been noted by scientists when Discovering Qatar was first published in 2006. Research into Qatar s past by teams of archaeologists has made huge progress in the last decade, culminating in the old pearling & trading settlement of Zubara being inscribed as a Word Heritage Site in 2013. During the 30 years Frances Gillespie lived in Qatar, the country made a gigantic leap forward in development, with a modern capital to rival any in the region. As a freelance journalist & writer she has the freedom to concentrate on subjects that interest her. Discovering Qatar reflects this, & the author & publisher hope that readers will share her enthusiasm & enjoy learning more about the real Qatar the Qatar that was there all the time.”