I should like to thank: Venetia Porter, Allestree Fisher and Peter Clark, for enabling me to come to Yemen in the first place; Edna O’Brien, for telling me it was a crime to be in Yemen and not write about it; Jay Butler, for getting me started; Eric Hansen, who has encouraged me all along; all those who have commented on the text, especially Claudia Cooper, Debbie Dorman, Roger Hudson, Kevin Rushby, Hasan al-Shamahi and Iain Stevenson; John Cleaver, Mike Gowman, Muhammad Ali al-Hasani, Malcolm Johnson, Wendy Lee and Brendan MacSharry, for ‘logistical’ support in one form or another; my agent, Carolyn Whitaker, for all her wisdom and enthusiasm; Gail Pirkis and Caroline Knox at John Murray, for indulging a book which is perhaps unfashionably digressive; Martin Yeoman, who has coped with dust, sun and melting etching plates to draw Yemen from the life as no one has before; all those who helped him come back – Dr Abdullah Basodan, the British-Yemeni Society, Heather Bull, Stephen Day, J.N. Ellis, Alan Richards, and, in particular, Francine Stone; Ali Zayd al-Ashwal and the staff of Yemen Airways, for supporting Martin so generously, and for turning a blind eye to his excess baggage; and, of course, the countless Yemenis – friends, acquaintances and strangers – whose kindness and hospitality has often been overwhelming, in particular Abdulwahhab al-Sayrafi, Hasan al-Shamahi (again), Abdulsalam al-Amri, and their families. If this book conveys something of the gratitude, respect and affection I feel for them, and for the others I have not named, it will have achieved its purpose. The Prophet Muhammad said of the Yemenis: ‘They have the kindest and gentlest hearts of all. Faith is Yemeni, wisdom is Yemeni.’ His words still hold true.
Bayt Qadi, San’a
April 1996
