Title: Strangers when we met : a century of American community in Kuwait /
Authors: Howell, W. Nathaniel 1939-
Year: 2016
Subjects: Americans Kuwait History; Iraq-Kuwait Crisis, 1990-1991; Persian Gulf War, 1991; Kuwait History; United States Foreign relations Kuwait.; Kuwait Foreign relations United States.
Abstract: "Nat Howell has written an extraordinary biography of Kuwait and its relationship with the United States. It is the story of extraordinary individuals, Kuwaiti and American, and what they discovered in each other. Ambassador Howell reminds us that for the first half of the 20th century, the American presence in Kuwait consisted of medical missionaries, not diplomats, businessmen, or oil workers. These committed individuals converted few souls but saved countless lives. They stood with Kuwaitis during the 1920 Battle of Jahra, when the founder of the Saudi Kingdom, ibn Saud, threatened the existence of the small state. Seventy years later, the threat came from Saddam Hussein's Iraq, which occupied the country overnight. Ambassador Howell, his staff, and some American residents of Kuwait kept our flag flying in the besieged Embassy for over four months, the only diplomatic mission to remain open. ... " -- Dust jacket blurb by Ryan C. Crocker,
Contents: An incidental encounter -- From fishing village to commercial port -- Photo gallery A -- The coming of the American mission -- Decade of austerity and promise -- World War II comes to Kuwait -- From boom port to boom town -- Photo gallery B -- Developers, dissidents, and diplomats -- Road to independence -- Independence -- Growing pains and engagement -- Photo gallery C -- A bad neighborhood -- Sea of troubles -- Tentative alliance -- Prelude to disaster -- Besieged but not beaten -- Photo gallery D -- The valley of the shadow -- Troubled dawn -- Legacy of pride and suffering -- Friends and allies -- Snapshots at age one hundred.