Inside the Kingdom
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4.3 • 3 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Following on his 1982 classic, The Kingdom, British journalist and bestselling author Robert Lacey offers penetrating insights into the complex country of Saudi Arabia. Taking the reader from the dramatic seizure of the Grand Mosque in Jeddah in 1979 to the deepening U.S.-Saudi relations during the Persian Gulf War and the increasing alienation of such radical fundamentalists as Osama bin Laden, Lacey presents an unvarnished picture of a country where repression is endemic and religion rules all. Through conversations with a broad range of Saudis, from high princes and ambassadors to men and women on the street, Inside the Kingdom is a story of a people trying to reconcile the religious separatism of the past with the rapidly changing world in which they are increasingly intertwined.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Lacey (The Kingdom) delves into the paradoxes in Saudi society where women are forbidden to drive but are more likely to attend universities than men and why this nation yielded most of the terrorist team on September 11, Osama bin Laden and one of the largest group of foreign fighters sent to Guant namo from Afghanistan. Lacey's conversational tone and anecdotal approach to storytelling and analysis gives us a vivid portrait of personal and political life in Saudi Arabia's public and personal spheres, the traditions that govern everyday life, the country's journey from relative liberalism on the tide of extreme oil wealth in the 1980s to a resurgence of traditionalism. Lacey shows us a land where the governing dynasty gives rehabilitated Guant namo returnees an $18,000 stipend toward their marriage dowry, and 15 young girls died in a schoolhouse fire in 2002 because they were not properly veiled, and religious police forbade them to escape and prevented firefighters from entering the burning building. Lacey's eye for sweeping trends and the telling detail combined with the depth, breadth and evenhandedness of his research makes for an indispensable guide.
