The last corner of Arabia

the long version

"A famous explorer described Oman as 'The Last Corner of Arabia'--for Oman is perhaps the least known and most remote of all Arab countries. Yet for thousands of years the great powers of the world have fought to dominate and enslave her--the Persians, the Romans, the Portuguese, the French and the British--for Oman covers the whole of the south-eastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, with a thousand miles of strategic coastline commanding the Indian Ocean and the entrance to the Persian Gulf. Today oil-tankers destined for the rest of the world pass through her territorial waters and even larger Russian and American fleets plough the ocean off her southern coast. Throughout history Oman has stood at the crossroad of world trade between Europe and the East, Africa and India. 'Arabia Felix' the Romans called her--'Happy Arabia', yet she has been continuously plundered by invaders and torn by tribal warfare.^ Paradoxically, she has also been a great power in her own right, a one time commanding en empire stretching from the Indian sub-continent to Africa. yet she has remained remote, mysterious, impenetrable, her interior cut off by barren sun-scorched mountains. Sultan Qaboos, who came to the throne in 1970, embarked on a crash course of modernization and evelopment to make up for all the lost years of neglect under his father, Said Bin Taimur, a medieval autocrat who resisted all forms of change. The authors visited Oman in the Spring of 1975 to compile for the first time ever a film portrait in depth of that country. They have succeeded in capturing the last vestiges of a way of life which has been untouched for centuries as well as the forces of change which are now shaping her into a new nation. The authors recall riveting personal experiences of this rugged and romantic country. At the same time they introduce us to the many complexities involved in the making of a documentary film.^ Their travels were often hilarious and sometimes alarming"--Publisher's description, p. [2] of dust jacket.