When Geoff Taylor first arrived in Dubai he was a Sergeant with the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers regiment on secondment to the Trucial Oman Scouts, the small uniformed security force which, under the command of British Army Officers, maintained security and public order throughout the Southeast Arabian peninsula. The year was 1976. Dubai then couldn't be any more removed from the Fritz Lang-like dystopia it is set to become. Although oil had been discovered offshore ten years previously, Dubai was still a comparative township, albeit one that was on the cusp of great change and economic development. The Sheraton, was, by Western standards, at least, still the only 'quality' hotel in town - and, consequently, always full. The bustling Port Rashid was more or less on the edge of town, while the road to Abu Dhabi - now a four-lane congested superhighway - was a pot-holed dirt track running through the desert. Jebel Ali and Dubai Drydocks were then still but dreams.
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机译：杰夫·泰勒（Geoff Taylor）刚到迪拜时，是皇家电气机械师团的一名士官，被借调到Trucial Oman Scouts，这是一个身穿制服的小型安全部队，在英国陆军军官的指挥下，维持了整个阿拉伯东南部地区的安全和公共秩序半岛。那年是1976年。迪拜再也无法摆脱它即将成为的弗里茨朗式反乌托邦。尽管十年前已在海上发现了石油，但迪拜仍是一个比较大的城镇，尽管它正处于巨大变革和经济发展的风口浪尖上。至少，按照西方的标准，喜来登酒店仍然是镇上唯一的“优质”酒店-因此，总是满员。熙熙Port的拉希德港或多或少地位于城镇边缘，而通往阿布扎比的道路（如今是一条四车道拥挤的高速公路）是一条穿越沙漠的坑洼的土路。杰贝·阿里（Jebel Ali）和迪拜·多坞（Dubai Drydocks）那时仍然是梦。
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