The Book Prize Index

Inside Qatar: Hidden Stories from One of the Richest Nations on Earth

John McManus

'A wonderful and sometimes devastating book ... sophisticated, nuanced, fair-minded and yet very hard hitting' SIMON KUPER, author of SOCCERNOMICS 'This will transport you to Qatar and teach you with humanity and empathy some of the dark truths about globalisation' BEN JUDAH, author of THIS IS LONDON 'John McManus is a remarkable, compelling writer' RORY STEWART, author of THE PLACES IN BETWEEN 'Wise, well informed, fair-minded and honest' PETER OBORNE, author of THE ASSAULT ON TRUTH AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT OF LIFE IN ONE OF THE WORLD'S RICHEST NATIONS AHEAD OF THE FIFA 2022 WORLD CUP Just 75 years ago, the Gulf nation of Qatar was a backwater, reliant on pearl diving. Today it is a gas-laden parvenu with seemingly limitless wealth and ambition. Skyscrapers, museums and futuristic football stadiums rise out of the desert and Ferraris race through the streets.

Politics & GovernmentPolitics & Government · medium confidencePolitics & Government81 signalsLlm Classifier: Politics & Government -> Politics & GovernmentTopic Classifier: Indigenous History -> American HistoryKeyword Classifier: Biography -> BiographyIndigenous HistoryOceans, Rivers & WaterSports & AthletesEnvironment, Conservation & Pollution

Award History

0 wins · 1 total

AwardYearResultCategory / Notes
Orwell Prize: Political Writing2023ShortlistSecondary source
View all award history (1)
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies

This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.

  1. 01 Central figures

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

  2. 02 Central places

    • Qatar90%

  3. 03 Suggested argument

    No argument inferred with sufficient confidence.

  4. 04 Reading orientation

    35 / 100 academic

    Serious trade

    An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.

Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 75%.