Out in the Blue: Letters from Arabia 1937-1940 [Hardcover]

Thomas C. Barger (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0970115733 | ISBN-13: 978-0970115737 | Publication Date: November 1, 2000

Out in the Blue is Tom Barger's story of his first three years exploring the deserts of early Saudi Arabia for an embryonic oil company that had yet to discover oil. In his travels he visited ancient places that have now all but disappeared and met Bedouin living a pre-Biblical nomadic life that was soon to irrevocably change in the face of modernization. Told through the letters he wrote home to his young bride of only two weeks before he left for the Kingdom, Out in the Blue is the story of Saudi Arabia before there was oil.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tom Barger went to Saudia Arabia in 1937 as a junior field geologist. He spent 32 years in the country and retired in 1969 as the Chairman of the Board of Aramco, the largest independent oil producing company in the world. After retirement he served as a policy advisor to the US government and as a board member of several major corporations. He also lectured frequently on the subject of Middle Eastern policy and wrote articles and books on Middle Eastern energy and politics, including - Energy Policies of the World: Arab States of the Persian Gulf.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Selwa Pr (November 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0970115733
• ISBN-13: 978-0970115737
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,276,003 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Glimpse at a world gone by, October 10, 2000

By 

BK (Camp Sherman, OR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Out in the Blue: Letters from Arabia 1937-1940 (Hardcover)

I hated to finish this book, because it was absolutely entertaining while tremendously informative. Knowing only of ARAMCO as it is now, reading of the early days was fascinating. Barger and other geologists roamed and camped all over the vast desert, spending hours repairing and digging out broken vehicles, mapping by the stars,looking for likely oil reserves and spending days and months "out in the blue" with Arab soldiers and bedouins who frequently regarded them with bemusement. They travelled to places where no or few other "Europeans" had been, and his accounts of these adventures to his bride at home make the story. Well, there's another story, that of his courtship and secret marriage (his parents wanted him to marry someone else) to Kathleen, the dude rancher's daughter, rodeo rider and brunette beauty, who waited more than 3 years to be able to join him in Saudi Arabia. Barger's powers of observation were keen, and his letters, which comprise this book, are testament. Although a geologist by education, he was a student of life who took delight in learning the language, the customs, the history and the tribes of the men he met. To be kept safe in those not-always-so civilized times of separate tribes, the geologists were always accompanied by the King's armed soldiers who also became drivers, guides, teachers, campfire poets, entertainers and friends. We meet Khamis, the guide who seemed to have GPS implanted in his brain, and always knew where they were despite (to the Americans) no visible landmarks. We accompany the men on their dinners, sometimes hilarious, with various Shaikhs and princes, learning the customs and behaviors peculiar to Arabia. It is a lesson in history, geography, personal experience and acquaintance with a man who was truly prescient. His influence in the development of ARAMCO as an Arabian/American partnership, the advancement of Saudis within the company, is attested to in the appendices, in a speech given at his retirement. For anyone interested in the growth of the middle east, or the discovery of oil, or just wants a terrific read, GET THIS BOOK!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surveys and Sandstorms, January 21, 2001

By 

John Pint (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Out in the Blue: Letters from Arabia 1937-1940 (Hardcover)

"What does Out In The Blue mean?" I wondered as I began to read the letters that Tom Barger, former President and CEO of Aramco wrote to his young bride back in the late 1930s before the discovery of oil would work its transformation on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

I soon discovered that for this young geologist, being "out in the blue" meant living and working for months on end under the open skies of the frequently merciless deserts and gravel plains of eastern Arabia, as opposed to studying rocks and sand from behind a desk in an air-conditioned office. I liked this guy right away! Then, as I read Tom Barger's letters, I enjoyed following the gradual transformation of a green newcomer into a seasoned desert veteran whose colloquial Arabic became so good that he was asked (in Beirut), "Are you a Bedouin?"

This book is sprinkled with descriptions and anecdotes that any reader would find fascinating. For example, everyone knows how important finding water is in a desert, but few would imagine what the Bedouin had to contend with, once they found the precious liquid:

"In general, the water in the Eastern Province would be considered unfit for drinking according to the American sanitary codes which considered 500 parts per million of salt as the absolute maximum that should be found in drinking water. In Arabia, water with 1,000 parts per million was regarded as practically rain water. We commonly drank water with as much as 3,000 parts per million; at one well, we saw some small Bedouin boys drinking water that was later analyzed at 10,000 parts per million...". Now imagine you are sitting around a flickering campfire in the desert under a sky bursting with more stars than you ever saw anywhere else, a sky bigger than belief because it stretches right down to a horizon perfectly flat in every direction. Here's the sort of tale Tom Barger picked up from his Bedu co-workers, perhaps on just this sort of night:

"Several years later in Qatif, a man slipped and fell out of a palm tree, landing on a man below and killing him. The man's widow claimed her blood rights and wanted this man executed for killing her husband. This was a difficult question for the qadhi, the judge of the Islamic court, as the man was innocent because it had been an accident. After much thought, the qadhi ruled that the widow had the right to kill him the same way her husband was killed. She could climb up a palm tree and fall on this fellow or she could settle for her blood money. She settled for the money."

I live in Saudi Arabia and have explored some of the places mentioned in this book, but I have a feeling anyone, anywhere, will enjoy the letters of this young, enthusiastic geologist.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Touching Account of Early Arabia, April 10, 2001

By 

"wellfj" (Covina, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Out in the Blue: Letters from Arabia 1937-1940 (Hardcover)

I have spent half my life living and working in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and have found few books that capture the early history of this country.

Even though the accounts portrayed in the story are over 60 years old, they are timeless crafted and have given me additional insight into the rich past of the region.

A book that's very difficult to put down.