In these 5000 pages Archive Editions presents a key selection of facsimile original British government documents detailing the history and development of Bahrain between 1820 and 1960. The set includes a map box containing 12 maps dated 1828–1955 including three sheets of the table of the Ruling Al Khalifah ('Utbi) family of Bahrain. These British records are of particular interest because the British were in the unique position of being at the heart of government in the Gulf states. They administered Bahrain's foreign and defence affairs through treaty relations from as early as 1820 and despite a convention acknowledging the independence of Bahrain agreed in 1913, right up to the British withdrawal in 1971.