The Kingdom: Arabia and the House of Sa'Ud

Rating:
Summary: Superb history, brimming with fascinating details.
Review: "The Kingdom" is easily the most readable history of Saudi Arabia I've found. It's a fascinating and factually correct account of how the country we know today came about. The author's prescience is rather striking because some of the very young princes in 1982 he describes have assumed quite powerful positions in the ensuing 15 years. I wish he would write a sequel.

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Near-Novelistic Introduction to Saudi Arabia
Review: An excellent introduction to the The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in an almost-novelistic, simplistic and non-controversial format, and an excellent collection of the vignettes and oral lore that comprise that history. This book provides a good base for understanding the historical, cultural, religious, political and economic background of the Kingdom. The book is a bit dated by this point (2001) but remains a great starting point for investigation of a complex society whose structure today is largely a mirror of a much older tribal structure. Very readable.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT!
Review: Excellent book.
Describes the history of how one of the world's most powerful families came to be, and it is a great story. Very well written and easy to read. After reading the book I not only increased my historical knowledge of the region, but I also got a new perspective and understanding of the arabic people.

The book is sold out, but you should be able to get a used copy from Amazon.

Rating:
Summary: Very informative explanation of a complex country.
Review: I stumbled upon this book shortly after my return home from the Persian Gulf War and it answered all of the questions that naturally arose from living for an extended period in such a unique country. It is a must read for anyone who is going to Saudi Arabia or who will be dealing with subjects of the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia is indeed a kingdom in a sense that is long gone from our historical perspective. As one of the Royal Saudi Air Force officers told me recently, the country is the "private property" of the Saudi family. Reading this book will give you an appreciation of the skill and leadership of Abdul Aziz ibn Sa'ud that allowed him to consolidate power in this vast desert land. If you are among those who have seen the "Emerald City" while at LogBases Alpha, Bravo, or Echo (226th ASG, Hooah) you must buy this book.

Rating:
Summary: New Edition Needed
Review: I'm not in a position to judge the quality of Lacey's data because I have no other books on Saudi Arabia. (Daniel Yergin's oil epic The Prize, though indispensable, is also out of date.) I find this book very entertaining to read. But in any case Lacey ought to consider writing an updated edition. With war looming on the horizon, terrorists coming from this country, and oil prices so unstable (partly due to Venezuela) we badly need to know more about this fascinating country. Saudi Arabia is a good deal more important than most countries. In particular the personalities of Crown Prince Abdullah and Defense Minister Prince Sultan need to be dwellt upon in more detail. We also need more info on the politics and economics of Saudi oil.

Rating:
Summary: A good backround to this fascinating and terrifying land
Review: If all your knowledge of Saudi Arabia comes from a couple of screenings of "Laurence of Arabia" and a nervous eyeful of screeming extremists blaring out of the front pages, this book is a must-read. From a Western point of view, the whole concept of Saudi is impossible madness, but Mr. Lacy very deftly untangles its subtlties in a vivid, sympathetic style that mercifully excludes both political correctness and zenophobia.

Arabia's rise from Ottoman backwater to fabulous wealth is an odyssey too weird for fiction. Mr. Lacy concentrates on the country as pawn of the Europeans in the 1800's and moves into the tummultous 20th century and the rise of the house of Sa'ud, their capitalization on world events, their fatal attraction to wahabbiism, and their government based on tribal loyalties and a system of patronage so labyrinthine it will make your head spin.

It's a heck of a read, and Mr. Lacy does it by immersing you in their world. By the time scientists from Standard Oil California appear poking around the eastern peninsula "searching for signs of the sea", it is they who seem alien. The book only needs an update to bring it up to speed with Saudi's frightening present.

Rating:
Summary: A good backround to this fascinating and terrifying land
Review: If all your knowledge of Saudi Arabia comes from a couple of screenings of "Laurence of Arabia" and a nervous eyeful of screeming extremists blaring out of the front pages, this book is a must-read. From a Western point of view, the whole concept of Saudi is impossible madness, but Mr. Lacy very deftly untangles its subtlties in a vivid, sympathetic style that mercifully excludes both political correctness and zenophobia.

Arabia's rise from Ottoman backwater to fabulous wealth is an odyssey too weird for fiction. Mr. Lacy concentrates on the country as pawn of the Europeans in the 1800's and moves into the tummultous 20th century and the rise of the house of Sa'ud, their capitalization on world events, their fatal attraction to wahabbiism, and their government based on tribal loyalties and a system of patronage so labyrinthine it will make your head spin.

It's a heck of a read, and Mr. Lacy does it by immersing you in their world. By the time scientists from Standard Oil California appear poking around the eastern peninsula "searching for signs of the sea", it is they who seem alien. The book only needs an update to bring it up to speed with Saudi's frightening present.

Rating:
Summary: A magnificent introduction to the Middle East
Review: It reads like a novel, but it's history.

Abdul Aziz did for Saudi Arabia what George Washington and Thomas Jefferson did for the United States. Despite his personal flaws and his Wahabism, he deserved admiration and respect.

You're in for a treat if you can get your hands on this book.

Rating:
Summary: Serious but dated, lacking a contrarian perspective
Review: Robert Lacey's book is a well-researched book that gives valuable insights into the history of Saudi Arabia and the mindset of its ruling family. Unfortunately, it lacks critical distance and paints an overly flattering portrait of the House of Saud, and should be balanced by reading Said K. Aburish's "The Rise, Corruption and Coming Fall of the House of Saud".

My father worked with the USSR in the 70s and Saudi Arabia in the 80s, and he told me Saudi Arabia was the most stifling place he ever was in, even worse than communist Russia (this is not anti-muslim bigotry, by the way, I am one myself).

A lot has changed since this book was written, due to demographic pressure and the collapse of the oil-driven welfare state after Gulf War I, so this book should be used mostly as a reference for the period before 1980.