My Early Life

This first part of the autobiography of Dr Sultan bin Muhammad al-Qasimi spans the years until his selection as ruler of Sharjah as a young man of thirty-three. It reveals the emergence of the man and the state, documenting with insight the dramatic palace coups in his own country and the neighbouring emirate of Ras al-Khaimah and the struggles for power during the formation of the United Arab Emirates. Revealing fascinating and untold parts of the history of the Gulf state, the author’s story is told with humour and passion, including his role in the protests and anti-British sabotage actions following the tripartite aggression against Egypt in 1956, his brief affiliation with the Ba’th party and the subsequent attempt on his life by party zealots in the 1960s, the occasionally baffled British administration attempting to follow the changing balances in power, and the siege of the palace in 1972 in which the former ruler of Sharjah was killed.