In January 1839, Captain S.B. Haines of the Indian Marine, the East Indian Company's navy, occupied Aden, a magnificent natural harbor located at the junction of the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, one of the 16 most important spots around the world. Britain recognised its strategic importance, and this began a period of British rule which lasted until 29 of November 1967. When Britain left South Arabia in 1967 it marked the end of an era it finalised the end of frontier-style soldiering.

Over the 140 years of British control over Aden, and especially during the times this area was the British Protectorate of Aden, several local military services were established. As a consequence all had a strong British flavor, as demonstrated by their doctrine, organisation and structure, ranks, uniforms, drill, equipment and other arrangement.

Drawing upon dozens of interviews with veterans with all of the involved services, archival and museum research in Great Britain and the Gulf states, and support from several veteran's associations, The Armed Forces of the Gulf States, Volume 4, provides an in-depth history into each service, supported by many organisational charts and maps. As well as providing in-depth histories of each force, The Armed Forces of the Gulf States, Volume 4 is richly illustrated with exclusive photography, color profiles and diagrams, detailing the uniforms, badges, insignia and equipment of the various forces over the time period.

As such it is an indispensable source of reference to the backgrounds on one of major military powers in the Middle East of today.This is the third edition of the book originally published in the 1990s, and providing a detailed record of the armed forces raised in the British Protectorate of Aden and those units deployed to serve there.