On Saudi Arabia
Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines - and Future
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4.3 • 38 Ratings
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
From the Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter who has spent the last thirty years writing about Saudi Arabia—as diplomatic correspondent, foreign editor, and then publisher of The Wall Street Journal—an important and timely book that explores all facets of life in this shrouded Kingdom: its tribal past, its complicated present, its precarious future.
Through observation, anecdote, extensive interviews, and analysis Karen Elliot House navigates the maze in which Saudi citizens find themselves trapped and reveals the mysterious nation that is the world’s largest exporter of oil, critical to global stability, and a source of Islamic terrorists.
To write this book, the author interviewed most of the key members of the very private royal family and gained extraordinary access to Saudis—from key religious leaders and dissident imams to women at university and impoverished widows, from government officials and political dissidents to young successful Saudis and those who chose the path of terrorism—House argues that most Saudis do not want democracy but seek change nevertheless.
A riveting book—informed, authoritative, illuminating—about a country that could well be on the brink, and an in-depth examination of what all this portends for Saudi Arabia’s future, and for our own.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Famed for their "passivity" and "unquestioning acceptance of rules laid down by elders" as well as their fundamentalist, uncompromising outlook, the Saudis are intensely proud, but by and large, have no say in the functioning of their country. The internal contradictions of a medieval theocracy in thrall to modern-day petrocapitalism give Pulitzer Prize winning journalist House ample material as she interviews princes and terrorists, millionaire playboys and destitute widows, muftis and engineers. Being a foreign woman, she has entr e into both male and female spheres, and the chapter on women is among the most illuminating; though the "overwhelming majority of women are totally subjugated by religion, tradition, and family," "activist women... can be found scattered across Saudi society." Chapters on disenfranchised youth, the sclerotic education system, the opaque succession procedures of the ruling dynasty, and the kingdom's foreign policy each suggest ways in which the country's potential is being stymied by fear of change, and identify points of conflict that could presage wider unrest. While cogently written, this slim volume is also repetitive and superficial. The same details recur throughout, and the reader emerges with only a basic understanding of the all-important relationship between the religious and political authorities, or of the mechanics of an economy in which 90% of private-sector workers are foreigners.
Customer Reviews
Good work!
It's clear has done her diligence and performed an extensive research for the contents of this book, which can be challenging especially for my native country, Saudi Arabia. I recommend this book and agree with about 80 percents of the contents.
On Saudia Arabia
Very thoughtful and well researched book which will inform anyone who seeks insights into a part of the world still captivated by outdated repressive thinking. I especially appreciate that a foreign woman could so skillfully negotiate the closed and cloistered passageways of this feudally oriented society. Indeed well done. Hopefully a long awaited and much needed rennaissance of rational thought will free them from their present course towards rebellion and self destruction.