Customer Reviews

Mirage: Power, Politics, and the Hidden History of Arabian Oil

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This book is written by an Australian international journalist now associated with the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Australian National University, Canberra. Thus Dr. Keating can be free of the political arguments currently going on in the US between the pro and anti Bush factions.

The title comes from the deliberate obscuring of the fact that the Arab areas of the Persion Gulf were virtual outposts of the British rule in India. This was not a happy situation for the people in the gulf and set the stage for the dramatic changes that were to come as the Americans came to the gulf and eventually superceeded the British interests.

At the end of World War I, when this books story begins, it was generally believed by the experts that there was no oil in Arabia. The book basically ends with President Roosevelt's statement in 1943 that 'I hereby find that the defense of Saudi Arabia is vital to the defence of the United States.'

In the twenty years between these two dates, there is a story of ambition, intrigue, folly, drama, conflict and even some comic interludes. None the less, this was the time that set the stage for the remainder of the century and for the future years. Here is the foundation for what is going on in that part of the gulf now.

The book is extensively researched, and written so well that the otherwise dull history is made very readable and interesting.

Any studying Middle East history or culture, particularly those at the college level, will find the weighty 560-page MIRAGE: POWER, POLITICS, AND THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF ARABIAN OIL to be a methodical and important survey of the discovery, development and use of Middle Eastern oil. From the history of discoveries and the reasons reserves in some countries went untapped for decades to the role of one New Zealander Frank Holmes in discovering and revealing these new sources, MIRAGE delves into the background and uses the author's original research from archives around the world in its in-depth revelation - which even includes maps, photos, and a 'who's who' of key people. An in-depth, essential pick for any collection solid in Middle Eastern studies and issues.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch