num_pages: 432
description: What happened in the Middle East's oil-rich powerhouse while we weren't looking? Saudi Arabia is a country defined by paradox. It's a modern state driven by contemporary technology &amp; possessed of vast oil deposits, yet its powerful religious establishment would have its customs &amp; practices rolled back 1000 years to match those of the prophet Muhammad. With Inside the Kingdom, journalist &amp; bestselling author Robert Lacey has given us one of the most penetrating &amp; insightful looks at Saudi Arabia ever produced. While living for years among the nation's princes &amp; paupers, its clerics &amp; progressives, Lacey endeavored to find out how the consequences of the 1970s oil boom produced a society at war with itself. Filled with stories that trace a path thru the Persian Gulf War &amp; the events of 9/11 to the oilmarket convulsions of today, Inside the Kingdom gives a modern history of the Saudis in their own words, revealing a people attempting to reconcile life under religious law with the demands of a rapidly changing world. Their struggle will have powerful reverberations around the globe. This rich work provides a penetrating look at a country no one can afford to ignore.
language: English
title: Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia
publisher: Viking/Penguin Group (NYC)