Review (PDF)

House Of Saud

This explosive examination of the Saud dynasty, whose greed and corruption have brought Saudi Arabia to the brink of bankruptcy--and the world to the edge of disaster--"raises important questions, not the least of which is whether Washington can afford to blithely close its eyes to developments within Saudi Arabia" (Newsday). of photos. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Paperback: 352 pages

Publisher: Bloomsbury Pub Ltd (July 31, 2005)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0747578745

ISBN-13: 978-0747578741

Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.9 x 7.8 inches

Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces

Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #1,663,164 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #210 in Books > History > Middle East > Saudi Arabia #20123 in Books > Reference > Foreign Language Study & Reference #62220 in Books > History > World

This is a useful book in that it challenges the public image that the Saudi royal family has put much effort and money into establishing, especially here in the West. That image is one of a benign monarchy, one that provides generously for its people while promoting geopolitical stability in the region. Needless to say, Mr. Aburish presents a radically different view, one of a brutal family run dictatorship that is corrupt to the core and which ruthlessly squashes dissent at home while sowing seeds of disunity among the other nations of the region. There is no doubt but that, in daring to write this exposé, Mr. Aburish provides a useful service, since neither the governments nor the media in the West show much interest in examining the Saudi government with a truly critical eye, although to some extent this can be explained by the inherent cynicism of mainstream journalism. After all, it is pretty much taken as a given that most regimes in the area are corrupt, repressive and autocratic, so reporting such is basically a "Dog bites man" type of story.Mr. Aburish's problem is that he simply goes overboard. His attacks too often seem personal in nature, although this can be explained by the fact that he dedicated this book to a friend who had been tortured to death by the Saudi secret police. He brings a sense of passion to this work, which is laudable, but too often it causes him to abandon any sense of objectivity in his quest to lambaste the House of Saud. As a result, this book reads less like the work of a professional journalist and more like a one-man act of personal vengeance. At times it becomes downright silly, such as when he attacks Saudi patriarch Ibn Saud for buying 40 Packards, which he derides as being "the most vulgar car of the 1940's".

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