Beyond Dubai: Seeking Lost Cities in the Emirates

David Millar lived in the Emirates as a British expatriate and reluctant oil man. Fortunately for us he was inspired by his fish out of water girlfriend to find the real culture and history of the region and capture it in a fast paced and hilarious book. In Beyond Dubai, Millar chases through the desert in a Jeep, in search of the Garden of Eden, beautiful camels, afternoon tea, ancient civilizations, lost cities, pieces of bronze, salt rivers, and ice ages. Fortunately, he lived to tell the story due to the sensible nature of his girlfriend, his excellent driving on narrow mountain roads, his way with authority figures, and his strict adherence to all relevant laws. I have spent months at a time in the region but never got to meet the type of characters Millar shared pints with. These pub characters and the available guidebooks were charming but not reliable so Millar set out on his own to discover. Millar starts at the beginning by investigating whether the Garden of Eden described in the Book of Genesis is somewhere in the Arab World. After all anyone can observe ancient rivers in Dubai, now reduced to creeks with their origins in the mangroves. Eventually our protagonist makes his way to all the Emirates and even the neighboring nations. We learn a lot about how the region was formed by immense forces acting at the end of the last Ice Age, when the glaciers melted and ocean level rose 400 feet.

As someone who knew the area well over forty years ago it was illuminating. How I envy the writer the ability to get to places I had no means of accessing all those years ago. All I missed was a feeling of contact with the indigenous people I knew and liked so much.

This is a real book for those who like to understand better the UAE and all the things that for most of us are unknown.

Even after living 5 years in the UAE, I learned more from this well written and amusing book.

Unique account of Dubai and surrounding area relating aspects not commonly known about its history and evolution