Discovery!: The Search for Arabian Oil [Hardcover]

Wallace Stegner (Author), Thomas W. Lippman (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 18, 2007

Illuminating a little-known but extremely significant period in world history—the discovery of oil in the Middle East and the beginnings of what is now the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco)—this captivating history explores the birth of the Middle Eastern oil industry. From the king and his royal court to the desert guides, scientists, and mechanics who built the original oil company, Aramco, the distant and desperately poor world of Depression-era Saudi Arabia is vividly brought to life. Written more than 50 years ago, this detailed account serves as a kind of time capsule and features the author’s prescient insights into the cultural and technological consequences of King Ibn Saud’s deliberate decision to choose America as his commercial ally.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An undistinguished writing professor at Stanford when he was commissioned by the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco) in 1955 to write "an approved history of the oil venture's early days," future Pulitzer Prize-winner Stegner (1909-1993) makes a fabulous tale out of what could have been a sterile (or sycophantic) history of the early years of Middle Eastern oil drilling, replete with Texas wildcatters, British nobility, Bedouin raiders and Saudi princes. After initial negotiations between Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud and the Standard Oil Company of California, which had an odd hunch that oil might be found in King Saud's barren, backward land, Stegner chronicles the construction of the first wells (which, strangely, produced disappointing yields), the political and corporate skirmishes (with occasional bombing) that followed, World War II and the end of the "frontier" in 1945. Though one wonders at the verisimilitude of the writing (many accounts fit quite neatly into Stegner's world, a folksy blend of Mark Twain and Ogden Nash where "a breed loud, tough, strong, rowdy, good-natured, and superbly adapted" safeguard the outposts of civilization), a notable lack of corporate boosterism (which apparently led Aramco to bury it) gives the account a veneer of honesty. Published for the first time in the U.S., this account should prove fascinating for historians, industry insiders and anyone who wants a closer look at the source of their last fill-up. 16 pages of b&w photos.
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Review

"Tells how Americans helped the Arabs find the natural resource buried under their deserts that would make them a major player in the world economy. If you want to know how we got into this mess, Stegner will tell you."  —Library Journal

"A riveting picture of the desert kingdom before it was transformed by oil wealth."  —Washington Post

"A grand adventure story."  —Los Angeles Times

"A classic. A great American writer on the birth of Saudi Arabia's oil industry midst global crises—and the collaboration across cultures that made it possible."  —Daniel Yergin, Pultizer Prize-winning author, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power

"This is a fascinating and timely rediscovery. Wallace Stegner was the finest American writer to wander through early Saudi Arabia. His voice is all here—sharp, clear, and entertaining."  —Steve Coll, Pulitzer Prize–winning author, Ghost Wars

"For serious Stegner fans who want more of the master."  —Seattle Times

"I was there in 1938 and lived part of this story, so I can vouch for the authenticity of Stegner's engaging and insightful narrative."  —Nestor Sander, author, Ibn Saud: King by Conquest

"[Stegner] anticipates the 'New Journalism' of Truman Capote and Tom Wolfe by a decade, unabashedly entering the minds of the people he writes about."  —San Jose Mercury News

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Selwa Press; First U.S. Edition edition (September 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0970115741
• ISBN-13: 978-0970115744
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #654,230 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #100 in Books > History > Middle East > Saudi Arabia

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Negative Review...., February 3, 2008

By 

John P. Jones III (Albuquerque, NM, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Discovery!: The Search for Arabian Oil (Hardcover)

...of this book written by Philip L. Fradkin in the San Francisco Chronicle lead me to Stegner's work. Fradkin's article was not actually about the CONTENT of the book so much as the circumstances surrounding its commissioning and publication. The conclusion is stated in his review's title: that the work should have stayed "hidden", that is, not published at all, and that would have been a real tragedy.

The circumstances surrounding the work's publications are covered quite well by Thomas W. Lippman in a Foreword to the work. It is clear that Stegner was paid by the corporate predecessor to ARAMCO to write an account of the first days of oil exploration in the Kingdom. It is also clear that certain "politically sensitive" portions of his work were revised or deleted, and that his consent to this process was obtained. Like many others, I would love to have read the unexpurgated version, but the only choice is the one available, with some "punches pulled," some "sensitivities" glossed over. Ah, if there were only similar type Forewords that explained the background and biases of the numerous "Saudi-bashing" books that have been published.

In reading this book I could not help think of Edgar Snow's "A Journey to the Beginning." Snow was fresh out of journalism school, went to China for a short period, but stayed over 13 years, and in the process met, and later portrayed the creators of modern China, Mao Tse-Tung and Chou En Lai. Snow's work remains essential if one is to understand one of the most important countries in the world today. Stegner's circumstances were considerably different than Snow's, but he too had unique access, and produced a portrait of some of the characters who "were attendants at the birth of a world." (page 151). There are the delightful descriptive nuggets of a great writer, such as "...he saw all the stigmata of great hurry, great expansion, the pipeline heading our for Ras Tanura..." Stegner's assessments and conclusions concerning one of the more contentious relationships in the world today, between the United States and the very heartland of oil and Islam, Saudi Arabia is worthy of reflection and consideration: "... which is the one consistently disseminated by hostile propagandists, reflects one aspect of the emergent unrest that has turned much of the Arab world away from the United States. It must be challenged, for unwilling as a democracy may be to take its own side in an argument, and meekly as it may believe the worst interpretations of its own motives, American oil development in the Middle East has been, all things considered, responsible and fair." (Introduction xxv)

I read Stegner's work immediately after having read the "flip side" of these momentous events, one Saudi's account of the creation of ARAMCO, AbdelRahman Munif's "Cities of Salt." Both works are essential for understanding one of the most important relationships in the world today - and it would be a real tragedy if either were suppressed, as Fradkin advocates in the case of "Discovery!" Suppressing books should be something that "other countries do," not the United States.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The political risks of oil explained, September 6, 2007

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Discovery; the search for Arabian oil, (An Export book) (Paperback)

The beginning of something big often starts out small....

There was a time when the Persian Gulf was simple, quiet and undisturbed. A place where religious pilgrimages were made with little interruption, and life went on as it had for centuries. But then came change....

It was gradual and slow to start. The government leaders were cautious, skeptical of the advanced nations. Yet they desired the betterment of their people and country. There were many voices-and the choices were vast. Who should they trust? What country offered the most?

King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud allowed numerous companies the opportunity to explore for oil. But it was the influence of St. John Philby, a former English intelligence office and Muslim convert that opened doors for the Americans.

During the 1930's depression, taking risks could be disastrous. However, the American oil company was successful. After many negotiations the Saudi King granted a partnership. The Americans agreed to share profits, build roads and towns, and most importantl, train employees. There was much the Saudi people needed to learn, and it would take many years before Aramco could stand on its own.

The American families who came will never be forgotten. Their influence had a lasting effect on those who they trained, helped and befriended. However, there were struggles and challenges along the way, which no one could have foreseen.

Discovery! The Search of Arabian Oil, summarizes the blossoming of a lasting business affiliation between King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud and the United States, spanning the depression of the 1930s to the end of World War II

This intriguing, and vividly descriptive story, was compiled and written some fifty years ago. Page by page you are transported back through the passing of history.

Armchair Interviews says: The experiences in this book will definitely give you with a new perspective!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Timely history reads like novel, November 12, 2007

By 

William Tracy (Eugene, OR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Discovery!: The Search for Arabian Oil (Hardcover)

America and the Middle East. Who would have thought our country's future would ever be so linked to events in that troubled region? Our children's lives, our grandchildren's prosperity, our national reputation at risk?
But there was a time when Americans were welcomed and respected in the Middle East. More than 50 years ago, the late Wallace Stegner wrote about the bigger-than-life adventures of Americans involved in the pioneering search for oil in the desert frontiers of Arabia, just before and during WWII. The first U.S. edition of this book by the Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist is a welcome reminder that ordinary, open-minded, hard-working Americans do have the know-how to negotiate, work through differences, cooperate and partner sucessfully with people of another culture for our mutual benefit. And in "Discovery! The Search for Arabian Oil", Stegner manages to gift us with this valuable lesson from America's and Arabia's shared history in a colorful, witty and exciting tale that reads like a novel.