DUBAI: December 6, 2007 (WAM): A new and updated edition of a major book on the origins and development of the United Arab Emirates arrives in local bookstores later this month.

"From Trucial States to United Arab Emirates", by Dr. Frauke Heard-Bey, is a chronicle of the creation of the UAE federation, which celebrated its 36th anniversary earlier this month, and of its subsequent transformation into one of the fastest-growing states in the region, the only successful experiment in federation in the whole of the Arab world.

This well-researched book, first published by Longman in 1982, has been updated to include a detailed assessment of the strengths and paradoxes that have made the UAE a unique example of modern development.

The author, who has lived in Abu Dhabi since 1967 "before the birth of the federation" is ideally placed to provide an insight into the background behind many recent and current developments in the UAE.

The book, now published by Motivate Publishing, opens by documenting the geographical and ecological conditions of the country - its location, oil, the mountains, the desert and the sea - of the country, factors that the author refers to as "fundamentally responsible for the quality of life led by the inhabitants".

From a time of desperate poverty that followed the end of the seven-thousand year old pearling industry, just after the Second World War, the seven emirates, once known as the Trucial States, and now forming the UAE, have become nerve centres of the world's financial and economic dealings, with Abu Dhabi providing the crucial political vision as well as an oil-fuelled social momentum and Dubai launching wide-ranging initiatives to promote sustained economic growth.

The country's unparalleled socio-economic development of the UAE, the author notes, is a fitting tribute to its chief founding architect, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who was the federation's President from its inception on December 2, 1971, until his demise on November 2, 2004.

As the author acknowledges, few nations have undergone so spectacular a change within the span of 100 years. "Few individuals," she writes, "have experienced such a transformation in their lives as the older generation of UAE citizens." Indeed, from dire deprivation - relieved only by the reliance on their tribal society's time-tested methods for survival in a physically unforgiving hot and arid environment - to finding themselves among the world's richest - a Gross Domestic Product, GDP, per capita of $49,700 (Dh 182,650) (2006 estimates) - this generation has seen it all.

Looking forward, this latest edition has a new chapter on the UAE in its third decade of existence, raising and answering the question - 'where does the UAE stand at the beginning of the 21st century?'.

From Trucial States to United Arab Emirates is a "must-read" for not only scholars, researchers or those with an interest in the UAE's history, but also for businessmen, diplomats, visitors, expatriates as well as UAE citizens.

Also available in Arabic and French, the book is currently being translated into Russian for publication next year.