Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Step into a book-shaped time machine and traverse the last 200 years of Bahrain’s history through the lens of The Fakhros of Bahrain: Merchants and Reformers, a fascinating account of some of the kingdom’s most crucial milestones.
The book, written by Abdulla Yousif Fakhro & Sons’ group managing director Adel Abdulla Fakhro takes readers on a journey through the joys, sorrows, upheavals and triumphs of a family which has for so long played such an important part in the story of the archipelago.
The interspersion of memoir and history provides a fascinating dais for the narrative to play out.
The author turns major milestones like Bahrain’s first census, the country’s technological push, the 1956 Suez Crisis, discovery of oil and the first McDonalds in the kingdom into stage pieces, sometimes pushing them to the forefront, sometimes having them play a role as backdrops for day-to-day lives during these significant moments.
There are four major currents flowing through the book - the Fakhro family’s relationship with Bahrain’s rulers; the evolution of business and trade models as the economy shifted from pearls to oil and today’s diversified mix; the importance and growth of education for men and women both within the family and the wider economy; as well as the political and socioeconomic reforms witnessed across the kingdom.
And to bring these moments to life, also included amongst the book’s pages are rare photos and to add verifiability, the author and his research team have endeavoured to include academic and published media references wherever possible.
Anyone with an interest in Bahrain and how business models and society have evolved will find this book of interest.
The Fakhros of Bahrain: Merchants and Reformers by Adel Abdulla Fakhro is now available at the Jashanmal Bookshop and Virgin Megastore for BD10.
