King Faisal of Saudi Arabia: Personality, Faith and Times
'A masterpiece of scholarship - brings to life the legacy of one of Saudi Arabia's most interesting and also influential figures. This book, clearly a result of years of research and reflection, is the most comprehensive and accomplished account of King Faisal's upbringing, his youth, and reign.' Professor Anoush Ehteshami, Durham University  " - detailed and fascinating biography - the story(Vassiliev) tells is a remarkable one. Faisal was an authoritarian ruler who stamped out opposition, and Western diplomats often found him cantankerous. Still, if his father created Saudi Arabia within its current borders, it was Faisal who knitted it together, using oil wealth to turn a backward desert society into a modern state and an actor on the world stage." The Economist