ABSTRACT
History, ultimately, is the judgement that the present makes about the past. Thus, the history written by one generation may look very different from that of its predecessors and successors. What I have sought to do in this book – and I am aware of its imperfections – is to sketch the reasons that we should revise our judgement of Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa. Or perhaps, more precisely, we should form a judgement, because his contribution has (I believe) been diminished or appropriated by others. I hope that in this book he has moved to the centre of the picture, which is where he belongs.
