as i get older, i become less interested in reading serious books and encyclopedias, but for some reason i kept reading and studying the contents of the encyclopedic, interesting and useful book written by my friend, engineer sabah al-rayyes ‘the history of engineering in kuwait, the story of a homeland in autobiography’. at fi rst, i rushed through the chapters of the book by skipping some paragraphs but book marked some pages which i found interesting with the intention of reading them over and over again. it took me one whole day to fi nish reading the book and later realized i had book marked almost half the book without even realizing what i had done. while i was reading the book, i felt the author was taking me on a journey into the past — into the boulevards and the streets of kuwait narrating the history of this house, that building or some palace. the book also narrated the history of a new street and how the seif palace and history of the mosques of kuwait, how the ahmadi city was built, the construction of the council, the secrets of assessing the valuing houses and the story of the general structural line which protected the land of kuwait from ‘thieves’. the book also contained the secrets of the master plan and how the idea of planning residential areas and the role played by general hasted – whom about i wrote before – in the development of urban kuwait. it also explains the vital role played by engineer george saba shiber in kuwait urbanization which was ignored. it also shed light on the experience and relations of the author with senior statesmen and his impressions of them, the history of the design and construction of kuwait airport, his role in the various engineering projects, locally and internationally, the role he had played during the liberation of the kuwait, his academic qualifi cations, in addition to intimate family facts, while supporting all these with tables, fi gures, charts and pictures. i do not know how much the author spent writing and collecting information and publishing this huge book which has more than 660 pages. i thank him for not asking me to review it, as he intended earlier because perhaps it would make me feel very tired. i have no doubt about the tremendous efforts exerted in reviewing the book except for very slight mistakes here and there. the book deserves to be read carefully, it is useful and entertaining, and indispensable for those who want to know what is hidden and gain knowledge about the history of kuwait, especially since no one has touched such topics before. this makes it useful as a unique reference. i hope the ministry of information, the national council for culture, arts and letters and the ministry of foreign affairs will buy copies of this valuable book and distribute them to state offi ces, libraries and embassies, and diplomatic missions abroad and to embassies of arab countries in kuwait, and offer it as presents to the state guests. the book will be released at the gallery hub on the arabian gulf road, next to the amiri hospital. e-mail: