History is not written once

Critical Readings in Kuwaiti and Gulf History

Author's name: Abdul Rahman Al-Ibrahim

History Is Not Written Once is a collection of critical essays written as an attempt to break away from the prevailing narrative style in writing the history of the Gulf region in general, and Kuwait in particular. The criticism here does not mean belittling the efforts of the researchers and historians discussed in the book. Their efforts are appreciated and acknowledged. However, the book—as its title suggests—attempts to read history and its writings from a different and innovative perspective, through the ongoing process of critical examination of published material.

The book was published by researcher Abdul Rahman Muhammad Al-Ibrahim under the subtitle “Critical Readings in Kuwaiti and Gulf History” by Tكوين Publications, among distinguished and diverse history books.

Because historical sources that were previously unavailable to us are now available to us, thanks to easy access to sources and information, manuscripts and documents—which researchers once had to travel to obtain and spend weeks and months in libraries—are now within easy reach, and historians are now obliged to discuss what their predecessors have written, attempting to develop the historical writing process to reach angles that have never been considered before.

History is not written once, as historical scientific methodologies and theories are constantly being renewed and developed. Gulf researchers who publish in Arabic, in particular, must keep pace with this scientific development.

History is not written once, because the political circumstances in which some historians wrote their books changed, and the prohibitions of their time changed. This freedom of research makes history written more than once.