"… a well-balanced fusion of literary sources, oral testimony and published volumes … Besides offering the reader a comprehensive overview of the maritime world and culture of the Arabian Gulf, it is also a precious record of a fast-disappearing world." Timothy Gambin, International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 35, ii (2006): 347-348.
"…. Equally important is the contribution it makes to the reconstruction of Arab seafaring by offering a well-researched and well-documented study on Muslim Arab seafaring in the Gulf and the Indian Ocean, one which will now be relevant to further comparative studies of the Arabs’ Mediterranean activities". Maya Shatzmiller, Bulletin of the Society for Arabian Studies, 11 (2006): 48-49.
"This is a very handsome book with ample illustrations, tables and maps … I can only laud the fine scholarly efforts, in the field and in the library, of the author … He has much in his writing of material culture and is at his best when he is explaining it to us, as throughout this book" (G. Rex Smith, Journal of Semitic Studies, 52, i [2007]: 176-7).
Major Book Prize
Awarded one of the most significant and prestigious major awards by the Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah Foundation and the British-Kuwait Friendship Society for the best scholarly work on the Middle East
"A well-balanced fusion of literary sources, oral testimony and published volumes … Besides offering the reader a comprehensive overview of the maritime world and culture of the Arabian Gulf, it is also a precious record of a fast-disappearing world." - Timothy Gambin, International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 35, ii (2006): 347-348.
"Equally important is the contribution it makes to the reconstruction of Arab seafaring by offering a well-researched and well-documented study on Muslim Arab seafaring in the Gulf and the Indian Ocean, one which will now be relevant to further comparative studies of the Arabs’ Mediterranean activities". - Maya Shatzmiller, Bulletin of the Society for Arabian Studies, 11 (2006): 48-49.
"This is a very handsome book with ample illustrations, tables and maps … I can only laud the fine scholarly efforts, in the field and in the library, of the author … He has much in his writing of material culture and is at his best when he is explaining it to us, as throughout this book" - G. Rex Smith, Journal of Semitic Studies, 52, i [2007]: 176-7.
"A stimulating and valuable account of a fading maritime culture, that brings life to the people of the dhow." - Lucy Blue, Centre for Maritime Studies, Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton.
"Wonderful, enthralling ... Based on fieldwork among surviving sailors, merchants and shipwrights from Kuwait to Oman, this is an invaluable account of the dhows of the Arabian/Persian Gulf and the men who sailed them. Agius has combined oral history with a deep knowledge of written sources to give us a vivid and unforgettable picture of a world that is on the point of vanishing forever - to our great loss." - Paul Lunde, Historian, Civilizations in Contact, Golden Web Foundation, University of Cambridge.
“Agius’ contribution is important as he succeeds in portraying (through some 200 interviews) this part of the world before the discovery of oil; the patterns of life; the social conditions, the multiplicities of trade and cultural interactions among different communities so divided but so similar at the same time." - Beatrice Nicoline, Middle East Studies Association Bulletin, 40/2 [2006]: 235-6.
“A wealth of information on the way of life of the sea people” - Fran Gillespie, Gulf Times, May 12, 2006.