Zahra Freeth
Encyclopedia
Zahra Dickson Freeth is a British author, the daughter of H. R. P. Dickson
(died 1959) and Dame Violet Dickson
(died 1991), who has written several books on the Middle East.
Zahra Dickson grew up in Kuwait
and later attended boarding schools in England. Her first book, Kuwait Was My Home, was published in 1956. She accompanied her husband to the bauxite
mining town of Mackenzie, now known as Linden
, in British Guiana
(now Guyana
) and wrote Run Softly, Demerara (1960) about her experiences there.
Her later writings have been on Middle Eastern topics, including a children's book, Rashid of Saudi Arabia (2001). She lives in Essex
. Her brother, Saud Dickson, died in May 2005.
H. R. P. Dickson
Lieutenant Colonel Harold Richard Patrick Dickson was a British colonial administrator in the Middle East from the 1920s until the 1940s, and author of several books on Kuwait.-Life:...
(died 1959) and Dame Violet Dickson
Violet Dickson
Dame Violet Penelope Dickson, DBE was the wife of British colonial administrator H. R. P. Dickson. She lived in Kuwait for 61 years, half of them as a widow, and published several books on the country...
(died 1991), who has written several books on the Middle East.
Zahra Dickson grew up in Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
and later attended boarding schools in England. Her first book, Kuwait Was My Home, was published in 1956. She accompanied her husband to the bauxite
Bauxite
Bauxite is an aluminium ore and is the main source of aluminium. This form of rock consists mostly of the minerals gibbsite Al3, boehmite γ-AlO, and diaspore α-AlO, in a mixture with the two iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite, and small amounts of anatase TiO2...
mining town of Mackenzie, now known as Linden
Linden, Guyana
Linden is the second largest town in Guyana after Georgetown, and capital of the Upper Demerara-Berbice region, located at , altitude 48 metres . It was declared a town in 1970, and includes the communities of MacKenzie and Wismar. It lies on the Demerara River and has a population of roughly...
, in British Guiana
British Guiana
British Guiana was the name of the British colony on the northern coast of South America, now the independent nation of Guyana.The area was originally settled by the Dutch at the start of the 17th century as the colonies of Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice...
(now Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
) and wrote Run Softly, Demerara (1960) about her experiences there.
Her later writings have been on Middle Eastern topics, including a children's book, Rashid of Saudi Arabia (2001). She lives in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
. Her brother, Saud Dickson, died in May 2005.
Books by Zahra Freeth
- Kuwait Was My Home. London: Allen and Unwin (1956)
- Run Softly, Demerara. London: Allen and Unwin (1960)
- A New Look at Kuwait. London: Allen and Unwin (1972)
- Kuwait: Prospect and Reality. London: Allen and Unwin (1972) with H. V. F. WinstoneH. V. F. WinstoneHarry Victor Frederick Winstone FRGS, known as Victor, was an English author and journalist, who specialised in Middle Eastern topics. He wrote biographies of several influential figures in the history of this region....
- Explorers of Arabia: From Renaissance to the End of the Victorian Era. London: Allen and Unwin (1978) edited by H. V. F. Winstone and Zahra Freeth
- "A Journey to Hail". Saudi Aramco World 31 (3) (May/June 1980) with H. V. F. Winstone
- The Arab of the Desert by H. R. P Dickson (1983), 3rd edition revised and abridged; edited by Robert Wilson and Zahra Freeth
- Rashid of Saudi Arabia. Lutterworth Press (2001)
- Zahra Freeth also wrote the introduction to Traditional Architecture in Kuwait and the Northern Gulf by R. Lewcock. London: Art and Archaeology Research Papers and The United Bank of Kuwait (1978)