The discovery of oil completely transformed the Gulf, making it one of the richest places on Earth. Yet the reality of life in Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE remains a mystery to most Westerners who see only distorted images of harems, oil rigs and Cadillacs. In The Gulf, John Bulloch offers a wide ranging analysis of the region past and present, and goes on to forecast what it will be like in the year 2000.