Inside the Kingdom

Even though I am visiting the Middle East fairly frequently at the moment, I never expected to read a book like this wanting to turn the pages to find out what happens next.How does a Royal Kingdom of such overt wealth and power encompass Mecca , the home of the Muslem faith, and sustain such fierce religious adherence.The skills and wisdom with which the successive kings worked with and listened carefully to the powerful religious leaders is dissected - Robert Lacey certainly seems to have developed exceptional access to the leading players. The kings are elected in an unexpectedly democratic manner from the various strands of nobility and come with different strengths. As the Saudi proverb goes:If you did not go hungry in the reign of King Abdul Aziz, you would never go hungry (This is the king who conquered surrounding kingdoms to create the vast Saudi Arabia as recently as 1932)If you did not have fun in the reign of Kin Saud, you would never have funIf you did not go to prison in the reign of King Faisal, you would never go to prisonIf you did not make money in the reign of King Khaled, you would never make moneyIf you did not go bankrupt in the reign of King Fahd.....That is about as far as it goes although, for my money, King Abdullah, the present king comes out the shrewdest.Starting in 1977, Islam fundamentalism, organised by Juhayman, rose against the Saudi royal family: "The Al-Saud had exploited religion as a means to guarantee their worldly interests, putting an end to Jihad , paying allegiance to the Christians (America) and bringing evil and corruption upon the muslims". The ambitions of the Muslim Brotherhood were to re-establish the order of Allah. But the rhetoric dealt in change -promoting concepts like social justice, anti colonialism and the equal distribution of wealth. Politically they were prepared to challenge the establishment in a style that was unthinkable to mainstream Wahhabis (religious leaders), who were reflexively deferential to the House of Saud.The Muslim Brothers were stamped on firmly by the Saudi state. Unlike Osama Bin Laden, who was financed and supported by the Saudi's in his fight first against the Soviet infidels in neighbouring muslim Aghanistan, and then in bringing his trained fighters to resist Sadam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait and threat to Saudi Arabia itself. But Osama bin Laden turned against the royal family, enraged by the Saudi cooption of America onto Saudi territory to help invade Iraq. The story of Osama bin Laden's bombing of the Tanzanian and Kenyan embassies and the explanation of why the majority of the 9/11 bombers were disaffected Saudis is related in a series of interviews with those involved on all sides.The position of women in Saudi society, the power of the fundamentalist clerics, the relations with the USA, the importance and influence of the tremendous oil wealth and the tensions within the society are all examined.This thoughtful and enlightening book must be on anybody's reading list if they are perplexed and intrigued by the position of one of the world's most powerful religious and economic states.

This book is a brilliantly illuminating and often quite moving history of Saudi Arabia from its creation in 1926 (!) up to 2009 when the book was printed. It reads like an exciting novel, vividly describing a wide variety of conflicts and achievements. It puts across the points of view of (often very brave) people trying to get their country into the 20th (never mind 21st) century and on the other hand of "traditionalists" who understandably resent the way "westernisation" has destroyed their neighbourly and family oriented way of life. (If only people could be made to understand that fast cars & gated communities aren't essential to western living.) It also decribes the difficulties the rulers have in holding together a country of such diverse views that was born so recently in violence and their horror at so many of their youngsters becoming ruthless killers. So why only 4 stars? Because I read this to try to improve my understanding of Middle East conflicts and jihadism, but it finishes at 6 years ago and an awful lot has happened since then. I read this on my Kindle and feel that there is scope for a new kind of book here; one where you can cheaply buy new update add-ons (AMAZON PLEASE NOTE). Such updates could equally apply to guides to best music, etc. For example, I've got the 2001 Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music & would like to see what they've recommended since then but don't want to shell out for a complete new book every time it's updated. Add-ons at, say double the price per page of the original would be brilliant. An update of Inside the Kingdom to 2015 would get me asking Amazon for a ten-star rating for this book.

Having worked in Saudi for 7 years, I can say that this book has been well written and is (mostly) a fair and balanced portrayal of life in the 'Magic Kingdom'While Lacey's previous book ('The Kingdom') might have been controversial (the Saudi royal family objecting to some of its content), it appears that this book (a 'sequel' as such) has been 'allowed' with a degree of official approval by the authorities.Despite my concern that this might result in biased coverage, Inside the Kingdom portrays both the pluses and minuses of life in Saudi, and you begin to appreciate that trying to manage a country (in the volatile Middle East) is a major political juggling act.The only criticism I would level at the book, is that towards the end, Lacey attempts to discuss the thorny issue of (alleged) corruption by the Royal Family. Up until this chapter, it is apparent that Lacey has been granted fairly open access to the Kingdom (unusual for a normally secretive country), but by the final chapter it appears that this is where the 'official' support ends.As a result, the discussion on corruption ends up with Lacey just quoting from several newspapers, which tends to result in the reader having more questions than answers on this thorny subject.I would certainly recommend this book as a primer, if you are planning to work out in KSA

A very interesting book and insight into life in Saudi Arabia. I bought this book to give to my son as a present as we both lived in the country at the time Robert Lacey was writing this book. The author came to speak to a Women’s International Group which I belonged to when I lived in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom.

Really enjoyed reading this book. Having had no idea at all about Saudi Arabian history or society at all I felt a little better informed having read this book. Certainly the shift in Saudi reaction and policy to the US post the 9/11 wars and in particular the invasion of Iraq I found very interesting. I think it shows to a certain degree why the House of Saud has remained in power whilst so many other similar middle eastern monarchies/regimes have been toppled. Definitely worth reading.

A professional journalist's review provides tip top credibility on this wealthy and changing country.

Excellent read, well-researched, and a fast read.

Libro scritto molto bene, mai pesante. Uno sguardo attento sull'Arabia Saudita, ricco di informazioni e testimonianze che aiutano a comprendere.

Fantastic read

A book with intellectual insight embedded in a thrilling story for each episode was great