English version of book on Mubarak the Great launched

Kuwait's ambassador here Khaled Al-Duwaisan praised the English version, just published, of a book on the biography of the founder of modern Kuwait, Sheikh Mubarak Al-Sabah "The Great," at a gathering that brought together the author, the translator, and the publisher and distributor of the book in Britain. In a speech at the gathering, launching the English version of the book, the ambassador noted that the life of Kuwait's seventh ruler from the Al-Sabah family, was worthy of the interest of not only historians and scholars but ordinary readers in Britain. Attending the gathering was Sheikh Mubarak Abdullah Al-Sabah, representative of the author of the original Arabic version Sheikha Dr. Suad Al-Sabah, members of the UK-Kuwait Friendship Society, and a bevy of academicians, Arab and foreign diplomats. Sheikh Mubarak Abdullah, who is Sheikha Dr. Suad's son, told the gathering that the book, first published in Arabic in 2007, dealt with the history and reign of Sheikh Mubarak the Great who ruled Kuwait from 1896 to 1915 and who ushered the country into the modern era through the building of schools, hospitals, customs house, and mail service, among other achievements. Noting that it has been 100 years since his death, Sheikh Mubarak Abdullah said that Sheikh Mubarak the Great was an effective ruler in the region who fathomed wisely its politics, leading him to sign an agreement with Britain in 1899 and helping the founder of the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia King Abdulaziz Al Saud. Set in 275 pages, the new English version of the book includes rare historical photos gleaned from the British and Ottoman era archives.