In this perceptive analysis of the Arab sheikhdoms of the Gulf, Peter Lienhardt discusses the common social patterns manifest in their tribal structure, the relations between men and women, the economics of pearl fishing, the growth of towns, and the complex relationship between the ruling shaikhs and their subjects. The advent of oil wealth radically altered the economic and social conditions of the region, but the sheikhs have continued to play an important political role in their modern states.