How it all began/ Shahnaz Pakravan -- The plight of the pulleys. Andy Jackson -- All God's children/ Omana Menon -- Time and tide/ Mike Shepley -- The resurrection/ Alison Collins -- The wireless, the goggle box and the stars/ Richard Coram -- The mother's story/ Linda Mahoney -- Of mice and white elephants/ Guy Guillemard -- Full circle/ Brian Wilkie -- After the fall/ Dariush Zandi -- of camels, Christmas and customs/ Julia Johnson -- The lesson/ Dhruv Dhawan -- The family/ Herta Farha -- Cycle of life/ Jonathan Ali Khan -- Then and now/ Alexander Johnson -- God gives nuts to those with no teeth/ Ron Bagnulo -- Shifting sands/ Ian Fairservice -- Wind in the dust/ Anita Mehra -- The discovery/ Christian Gross.

This book is a unique testament to an era that has passed and will never be seen again. Eighteen Dubai veterans tell their personal journeys with poigent memories, entertaining anecdotes and photographs from collections never seen before. Shahnaz Pakravan has gathered a diversegroup of people - many of them personal friends, others colleagues whise work she has admired, and skilfully woven their experiences to form a fascinating and very personal album. Every testimonial is original, yet what binds them together is their love and magnetic attraction for this Ard al barakat- this blessed land.