An intimate portrait of life in the world’s richest nation ahead of the FIFA 2022 World Cup.

Just 70 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. But in the shadows, migrant workers toil in the heat for risible amounts.

INSIDE QATAR reveals how real people live in this surreal place, a land of both great opportunity and great iniquity. Ahead of Qatar’s time in the limelight as host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, anthropologist John McManus lifts a lid on the hidden worlds of its gilded princes, manual labourers and domestic workers, its teachers and policemen, culture vultures and thrill seekers.

“A stunning exposé... A social anthropologist by trade, McManus's focus is not on the secretive intrigues of Qatar's ruling family, but on the lives of ordinary people... McManus is an engaging writer, who can bring even anonymous interviewees to life.” TELEGRAPH