The Emergence of Qatar

In our latest book review on the website we look at the Emergence of Qatar: the Turbulent Years. The book covers the history of Qatar from the bombardment of Qatar by the Portuguese at the start of the seventeenth century till the signing of a treaty of protection between the Al Thani family and the British in 1916. The history of this period is covered in detail, and this is probably the only detailed general history book published about Qatar's history for many years.

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Qatar - land of bliss?

Qatar has been included in a new book called the Geography of bliss. The author, Eric Weiner, a travel correspondent sick of travelling to unhappy places around the world, decided to locate and visit the twenty happiest countries in the world.

However, he did not choose Qatar because of its happiness but because of its newfound wealth. (A good choice - Qatar's GDP per person has just vaunted to new heights, passing $70,000 per person and far higher than that of America.)

You'll have to read the book to find out exactly what Eric thinks of Qatar, although from the summary of the book on the Eric Weiner website things don't sound very hopeful:

"He travels to Switzerland, where he discovers the hidden virtues of boredom; to the tiny—and extremely wealthy—Persian Gulf nation of Qatar, where the relationship between money and happiness is laid bare..."

Also see: Qatar Visitor's Book Reviews

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Discovering Qatar

Discovering Qatar is now available on-line on our website. Discovering Qatar takes an in-depth look at the history, natural history and culture of Qatar. The book is by long term Doha resident, former Qatar Natural History Group Chairperson and Gulf Times journalist Frances Gillespie.

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Qatar Today

I spotted this magazine while shopping in Food Palace this morning, and bought it along with the nappies and baby milk. I have to admit I expected it to be as bad as the Qatar Business magazine, which I occasionally buy to keep up with things, and which has yet to discover paragraphs let alone decent writing.

However, a glance at the articles revealed both a writing style which is readable and proper use of paragraphs.

Content in the first section of the magazine focuses on Qatar news – not particularly interesting, to be honest, but then they don’t have a lot to work with. It then goes on to look at regional and world issues. There’s a distinct but not exclusive focus on business news.

The magazine then has some features (far too long for me to bother reading) and some shorter articles: The Manager Effect, Mastering the art of Communication, Quest for our roots and so on.

What I liked, though, is that the magazine has not adopted the standard sycophantic style of some other publications here. That’s despite the cover title (“A vote for democracy”) which at first I thought would a sugar coated description of Qatar’s “democracy”.

In fact, in addition to emphasising the “half-hearted” nature of the debate concerning democracy, the magazine goes on to criticise the lack of press freedom in Qatar asking:

“Though official censorship has been lifted, has the pen really been uncapped?”

Overall, the magazine wouldn’t replace an international publication, but at QR10 it’s a bargain for anyone who wants to keep up with what’s happening locally.

Right, I’m off to change the baby’s nappy. I forget to get baby wipes, but luckily I have a copy of Qatar Business which should be up to the job...

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Qatar Media & Newspapers

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Teach Yourself Gulf Arabic

Teach Yourself Gulf Arabic by Jack Smart and Frances Altorfer
220pp
ISBN 0-340-72125-1
Publ. Hodder and Stoughton

Teach Yourself Gulf Arabic covers language needed to function in an Arab country, and is organizedby functional topics such as directions, asking the time and official procedures. Language is taught through phrases rather than through a grammatical approach, although there are grammar notes. There is also a section in each unit on Arabic writing.

Each unit contains dialogues, which can be listened to on an accompanying tape, and a word list. At the end of each unit there are exercises to help you review what you have learnt. Cultural tips add interest to the book.

The approach is incremental: knowledge of previous units are assumed in each new unit, with extensive use of pre-taught vocabulary. While this helps a learner to retain vocabulary and phrases, and gives a thorough knowledge of each area, it also means that the learner can not jump ahead to a different function. In addition, as each topic is covered in some depth, you will gain mastery in one area while not knowing very basic phrases in other areas.

This book functions well as a course book, and is suitable for determined students who are serious about learning Gulf Arabic. It would also be suitable for people looking for supplemental material to an Arabic course. Also see:

• Qatar Visitor's Beginner's Guide to Arabic
• Studying languages in Qatar

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English language newspapers

There are currently three local English Language newspapers, and they’re actually not that bad. The Gulf Times is the longest running newspaper, and currently has the biggest circulation, but The Peninsula is rather more critical. The Qatar Tribune is the new kid on the block, and is still finding its feet: while international coverage is comprehensive, local news is scarce compared to the other papers. All the papers have a focus on news from the most common groups of expatriates.

The Khaleej Times is a regional newspaper, and doesn’t cover Qatar very well, being more focused on the UAE. Nevertheless, it’s actually a really good read, with gossip pages, analysis and more. If you don’t just want local news there’s a lot more to it than the other papers. American and British papers are available, although they are expensive and may be out of date.

While sometimes there is a rather strange turn of phrase in the local papers, they are generally well proof-read and actual grammatical errors are kept to a minimum. International news is taken from news agencies, but all the local papers have a team of journalists to cover local events. They do seem to have a habit of printing some press releases verbatim, without analysis or comment. Yet at the same time they have a reputation for being more vocal than the Arabic newspapers. With reports on strikes, living and working conditions for expats and maids and criticism of government institutions, these papers can give you a real feel of the country and its issues.

In addition, the Gulf Times and the Peninsula both have websites with the most recent news, although they are not fully functional and searching for old news stories is impossible. All the papers provide classifieds, which are a good source of second hand cars and other goods, but these are only available on the printed versions of the paper.

You can buy English language newspapers in most of the shops. Alternatively, just wait until you stop at some traffic lights and buy a paper off one of the poor souls there.

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Qatar Explorer

The Complete Residents Guide (1st Edition)
ISBN 976-8182-53-9 (251pp)

Qatar can prove to be a bureaucratic and confusing maze for the unsuspecting visitor. Public and private sector workers alike sometimes regard information as something to be given out only with the greatest reluctance, while others express amazement at your lack of knowledge of the intricacies of their organizations.

Qatar: the complete residents guide is currently both the most comprehensive and the best tourist guide, with much of this information available between it purple covers. It’s divided into six sections: general info, residents, exploring, activities, shopping and going out.

While, it seems, everything a tourist or resident would want to know about has been included, it would be nice to have more detail on some areas, such as food, culture and history. However, as it title suggests, both it’s main focus and its strength is on providing clear and practical information for residents, and it includes information on housing, setting up home, health and education. The adverts which dot its pages may prove to be an irritation for a book that you have paid for, but at least they contribute to a reasonable price for a book which has only a small potential market. Overall, this is a book well worth buying for anyone thinking of coming to work and live in Qatar.

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Discovering Qatar: by Frances Gillespie

ISBN 99921-70-32-8 Sponsored by RasGas
148 pp

Detailed information about Qatar, and especially about Qatar’s culture and history, is not easily available. So it was a real pleasure to discover Discovering Qatar, which deals with both the history and natural history of Qatar.

The book starts with an overview of the history of Qatar, from the first signs of people to the recent development of the country. It then focuses on specific areas of the country – and their history – and on the former lives of the Qatari people, so different until a few short years ago. The second half of the book explores the natural history of the peninsula, with sections on many of the land and sea creatures that inhabit Qatar. The book is illustrated throughout with superb photography.

The author and long term Doha resident, Frances Gillespie, is a former President of the Qatar Natural History Society, which organizes trips and lectures about Qatar, and coordinator of the Qatar Archeology Project . She has contributed to several books, and is a regular writer for the Gulf Times. In Discovering Qatar she has succeeded in producing a book which is full of detail but never fails to be fascinating.

Unfortunately Discovering Qatar is not yet available on Amazon, but you can pick it up in Qatar at Carrefour and local book shops, or email the author directly on gillespi[at]qatar.net.qa .

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