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BOOK REVIEW

by Robert Stozle

May 20, 2003

THE KINGDOM

Arabia & The House of Sa'ud

by Robert Lacey

Although this book is a bit out of date, its relevance and insight to the recent fighting in Iraq and the often in-

scrutable activities within OPEC justifies the time to get through its 522 pages. Actually, this history of Saudi

Arabia is one of the most enjoyable and easiest read historical accounts I have encountered and I would recom-

mend it to anyone with an interest in the price of oil.

As a young man living with his family in exile in Kuwait, Abdul Aziz--the father of the current kings of Saudi

Arabia--in 1902 recaptured the ancestral home of Riyadh. For fifty days a force of about 60 men on camels and

armed with swords, daggers and a few rifles had traveled across the desert to fight a battle that lasted only a day.

This success set Abdul Aziz on a series of conquests, trades and diplomacy that ended with the country we

know today as Saudi Arabia.

He started well before the discovery of oil there and ended as king of one of the most economically powerful

and influential countries on earth. Saudi Arabia is a kingdom with all the residents being subjects of the king

and all property owned by the king. It is a devoutly Islamic state that in many ways owes its existence to a fa-

natical sect known as the Wahabis. The enemies and allies of Saudi Arabia were largely developed during Ab-

dul Aziz's conquest and reign and persist to this day. Saudi Arabian decisions and the politics of the Middle

East are often incomprehensible to the western observer but, viewed from the context presented in "The King-

dom", much of the behavior can be seen as quite logical.

For a book written for western readers, "The Kingdom" is unusual in presenting its history from the perspective

of the House of Sa'ud. As such, it offers an interesting perspective not only on the political intrigues of the r

gion, but also on the importance of oil and its continuing development. The misunderstandings that cause

much trouble today are usually presented from the Arab view and present an interesting counterpoint to the

spin we usually hear in the west, e.g.-why didn't they give Germany to the Jews, what did we do to deserve

having our land given away?

Just in case anyone doubts that the residents of the region don't understand the oil equation and the

basis for

western interest there, a common aphorism of the "man in the street" in Arabia today is, "My father rode a

camel, I drive a car, my son will fly an airplane, his son will ride a camel."