Dubai Dreams: Inside the Kingdom of Bling

by Raymond Barrett

Overview

This is Dubai: a place where the confines of the imagination no longer apply.

Dubai has become the watchword for all things new, glittering and very bling - a billionaire's dream world and a haven for international expatriates promising a fantasy land of tax-free fun, sun and sin. In less than a generation, this small city-state on the Arabian Gulf has been transformed from a sleepy smuggler's cove to a global financial and entertainment hub home to a number of world records, including the world's tallest building, the largest man-made island and the biggest shopping mall. But what is life really like for the people who live and work in the city of Dubai, beyond the towering skyscrapers, luxury resorts and opulent mansions?

Rather than just desert Sheikhs and designer-clad Emiratis, Raymond Barrett also encounters a dizzy melange of expatriates - Iranians, Ethiopians, Indians, Afghans, British and Chinese - all living their own version of The Dubai Dream. Behind the hyperbole and marketing spin, what are the real stories the city has to tell? From seven-star hotels to immigrant labour camps, from Sunni mosques to Hindu temples and from the courthouse to a back-alley speakeasy, Barrett draws a fascinating picture of the brave new world emerging from these desert sands. He reveals the hidden side of this playboy paradise and considers whether Dubai is a doomed Plastic Arabia or an authentic 21st century success story.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781473644632
Publisher:	Quercus
Publication date:	12/15/2010
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	228
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Raymond Barrett has lived in the Middle East for nearly a decade and writes regularly on the region for Ireland's Sunday Business Post. He has also written for newspapers across the Middle East and in the United States.

Table of Contents

Prologue: The Kingdom of Bling 1

1 Dubai Dreams 10

2 Genuine Fake 25

3 Maktoum Inc. 35

4 Hail Britannia 48

5 The Best City in India 61

6 Bringing the Mountain 72

7 From a Doodle to a Theme Park 82

8 Looking for a Lost Arabia 89

9 City of Gold 109

10 Shine On You Crazy Diamond 124

11 East of Eden 138

12 Dirty Linen 156

13 Secret Dubai Diary 166

14 First Among Equals 179

15 She Sells Sanctuary 196

16 Last Orders 213

Epilogue: Cameos 224

Author's Note 227

Al-Maktoum Rulers of Dubai 228

Bibliography 229

Acknowledgments 231

Editorial Reviews

A no-holds-barred, blow-by-blow account of the majesty and depravity of boom town Dubai. The best narrative so far of the tiny emirate's explosion onto the global scene.—Dr. Christopher M. Davidson, author of the bestselling Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success

Raymond Barrett's portrait of the rhinestone emirate is beautifully observed, packed with surprises, epigrams and sage analysis. Dubai, as much state of mind as city-state, has long been crying out for such a psychogeography as this.—Tim Mackintosh-Smith, author of Yemen: Travels in a Dictionary Land and visiting lecturer at the Royal Geographical Society and Harvard's Center for Middle Eastern Studies

The revelry may be over for some of Dubai's fast-buck artists but, as Barrett reveals in this intimate portrait, the glitter Kingdom continues to be a magnet for Iraqis fleeing carnage in their homeland and others in the region with the age-old dream of re-inventing themselves.—Kevin McKiernan, journalist and filmmaker, covered the Iraq war for ABC News

Raymond Barrett's book delivers in an entertaining and personal way. Having lived in the Middle East for nearly a decade, he is well placed to give an overview of how the tiny emirate grew from a desert trading post into a boom town. Dubai Dreams explains the cultural and historical background to this extraordinary place. This book is a good, accessible primer.—The Irish Times

From the Publisher

Raymond Barrett's portrait of the rhinestone emirate is beautifully observed, packed with surprises, epigrams and sage analysis. Dubai, as much state of mind as city-state, has long been crying out for such a psychogeography as this.

Tim Mackintosh-Smith