During the years 1797-1820 the Qasimi Arabs or
Qawasim, inhabitants of the present day United Arab Emirates, acquired an
enduring reputation as ruthless pirates. Some of their victims flew the British
flag, and thus their actions were to provide the initial stimulus and
justification for 150 years of British involvement in the Gulf.
Recently, however, it has been doubted
whether the Qawasim were in fact pirates. In a scholarly but accessible account
founded on contemporary sources, illustrated with testimonies of eye-witnesses
and participants, THE BLOOD-RED ARAB FLAG sets out to decide this controversial
question. By making use of valuable and hitherto untapped archival material,
Charles Davies strongly evokes a flavour of life in the Gulf in this turbulent
and formative period in the Gulf's history.
"This is more than just an analysis of piratical
acts; it is a successful attempt to understand what ingredients made the players
act the way they did. It also provides the reader with a vivid and credible
account of what life was like, both at sea and on land, for Persian Gulf
dwellers, and in particular for the Qawasim pirates." International History
Review, June 1999
"The Blood-Red Arab Flag offers such a
detailed and surgically sharp analysis of British policy and action, on the one
hand, and the maritime history of the Gulf in general and the Qawasim in
particular, that it may indeed, for a considerable time, be regarded as the
definitive work on the subject...this book is highly recommended. Davies has
made a major contribution to a crucial period of Gulf and British history which
maritime historians will read with great advantage."
The Northern Mariner Vol.VIII, No 4 1998
"Despite the lurid title, this is a serious historical work-sometimes indeed
a little too serious to make for easy reading-but it does lead us to a
fascinating but almost forgotten area of Middle Eastern history. . . a
fascinating and scholarly book . . ." Times Literary Supplement, September 4
1998
"...the book's analysis shows that the common
superficial view of piracy in the Gulf area obscures not only the complex issues
of the relations between the Gulf states and Britain but the actual nature and
ramifications of this particular chapter in the history of marine violence. . .
This book makes a major contribution to Arab Gulf studies." Lloyd's List,
January 17, 1998
First in-depth investigation into
controversial subject Helps explain why the Gulf is as it is today
Evocative, accessible style based on original research
Market: Students and scholars of Gulf history,
Middle East history, maritime history, Imperial history, Indian Ocean studies.
Academic libraries. The general reader with an interest in the subject.
Author: Charles E. Davies is a barrister and an
Honorary Research Fellow in the Centre for Arab Gulf Studies, University of
Exeter.
