E-Book-ProQuest / Fernzugriff nach Registrierung möglich

Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Note on Transliteration -- Chronology -- Introduction. The Global Gulf: Center of the World -- 1. Dilmun: From the Beginning of World Trade to the Rise of Islam (2800 BCE-632 CE) -- 2. Basra: Where Islam Became a World Religion (632-1000) -- 3. Siraf: Boom and Bust in the Medieval Gulf (1000-1500) -- 4. Hormuz: How the Gulf Shaped a European Empire (1500-1793) -- 5. Muscat: Oman, the British, and the Long Nineteenth Century (1793-1945) -- 6. Dubai: The Global Gulf in a Global Age (1945-Present) -- Conclusion. The Future of the Global Gulf -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.

This sweeping history reorients our understanding of the Middle East, placing the Gulf at the heart of globalized trade and cross-cultural encounters.   World history began in the Persian Gulf. The ancient port cities that dotted its coastlines created the first global seaboard, a place from where faiths and cultures from around the world set sail and made contact. More than a history, The Center of the World shows us that contradictions that define our modern age have always been present.   For over four thousand years, the Gulf--sometimes called the Persian Gulf, sometimes the Arabian Gulf--has been a global crossroads while managing to avoid control by the world's greatest empires. In its history, we see a world of rapid change, fluctuating centers of trade, a dependency on uncertain global markets, and intense cross-cultural encounters that hold a mirror to the contemporary world. Focusing each chapter on a different port around the Gulf, The Center of the World shows how the people of the Gulf adapted to larger changes in world history, creating a system of free trade, merchant rule, and commerce that continues to define the region today.