An American scholar of the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf, Peterson defines and explains the historical environment that determined the significance and design of the capital of Oman, Muscat, its sister city Matrah, and environs prior to 1970. He also explore how the development of the conurbation since then has transcended the historical boundaries and considerations of the existing settlement, how the process of development has proceeded largely without any consideration of the impact on the city's tangible or remembered history, and how much of the tangible historical legacy of Muscat has been gratuitously destroyed and much of the rest trivialized and bowdlerized. Then he offers a gazetteer, a chronology, a list of modern rulers, and over 200 color and monochrome illustrations. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)