Page 21 - UAE Truncal States_Neat

Acknowledgements

My thanks go first to my husband David. This book would never have
been completed without his constant encouragement, support and
constructive criticism.
While the book slowly took shape, our two children Nicolas and
Miriam were born. They are still too small to realise that work on this
book occasionally deprived them of my undivided attention. But I
hope that when they grow up they will agree that we usually came to
a very happy compromise before the day was out.
The Centre for Documentation and Research in Abu Dhabi has
been my place of work since 1969. It is there that most of the final
version was completed. I heartily thank the Director Dr Muhammad
Morsy ’Abdullah and all my colleagues, in particular Mr 'Ali Tajir
and Mr SaTd Salman Abu Adarah, for their practical help and their
sympathy with difficult queries in the anxious moments when time
was running out.
During the past twelve years, my work at the Centre and in the
preparation of studies for various publications has been encouraged
consistently and very patiently by HE Ahmad Khalifah Suwaidi,
Foreign Minister of the UAE for many years. To him, to the
Government of the UAE and officials in the Abu Dhabi Admini­
stration, I express my deep gratitude. I should also like to ack­
nowledge my gratitude to Mr Alan Gilchrist, a former editor of
Longman, who read and edited the manuscript and gave valuable
advice. His untimely death is a great loss.
It is impossible to mention by name all the kind people without
whose help this book would not have attained its present form—
whether they granted lengthy interviews or they willingly answered
questions as and when I posed them. There are those who assisted

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