It seems an unlikely friendship, but for nearly the past six decades the US has enjoyed Bahrain as a steadfast ally through the Cold War and turbulence in the Mid East. Naval historian Winkler describes the long years of hard work on the part of both those who constitute the US naval presence in Bahrain and the same by Bahraini government officials and ordinary people. He describes the arrival of the US Navy, the early years of establishing contact and making alliances, the withdrawal of the British, a period of instability that was resolved as war became a constant presence in the gulf, the role of Bahrain in aiding the US in Desert Shield and Desert Storm, the USS Cole incident, and the state of the continuing relationship as war came again. Winkler provides very interesting period photographs. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)