The Saudis: Inside the Desert Kingdom [Hardcover]

Sandra MacKey (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0395411653 | ISBN-13: 978-0395411650 | Publication Date: April 1987 | Edition: First edition.

"A rare first-hand glimpse into the hidden realm of Saudi social and public life."—The New York Times

Sandra Mackey lived in Saudi Arabia for four years, and as far as the authorities knew, she was simply the wife of an American doctor. But she saw things and traveled to places rarely viewed by any outsider, let alone a Western woman, and she succeeded in smuggling out a series of crucial articles on Saudi culture and politics. The Saudis offers a fascinating portrait of Saudi life, chronicling Mackey's extraordinary travels and experiences and depicting Saudi Arabia's strange metamorphosis from backward desert kingdom to world power. Mackey reveals the chaos of a country in transformation: grappling with modernity, coming to terms with its own wealth, and battling to maintain an influential stance in an altogether new world. This updated edition provides the essential background to the new Saudi crisis as the mother state of international terrorism.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

For four years beginning in 1978, Mackey lived a double life: as a journalist and professional she objectively observed and analyzed the changes transforming Saudi Arabia; as an expatriate American she was exasperated by the inefficiences and personal inconveniences endemic to that rapidly changing society. Her book outlines the impact of the oil boom on a conservative society, filling in background on the nature of Islam and traditional Arab life. Although fond of the country, she shows little empathy, concluding that Saudi Arabia suffers as "a people who have lost their way, whose heritage proved unequal to the demands of modernization, whose leaders became corrupt, whose idols floundered . . . ." Sarcasm and intolerance undermine her factual reporting, and make this a volume that libraries can pass up.Elizabeth R. Hayford, President, Assoc. Colls. of the Midwest, Chicago
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

A rare first-hand glimpse into the hidden realm of Saudi social and public life. -- New York Times --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 433 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (T); First edition. edition (April 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395411653
• ISBN-13: 978-0395411650
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,687,556 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but dated, September 17, 2004

By 

J. Burgess "jfb1138" (Sarasota, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Saudis: Inside the Desert Kingdom (Paperback)

This book presents a fairly empathic view of the Saudis. It doesn't absolve them of the harshness that often makes up part of their lives, but it doesn't dwell on them either. I find it objective and balanced.

The only real problem with the book is that, as others have noted, it is very out of date. The few pages added to this edition don't really cover the incredible transformations that have happened in the country since Ms. MacKey lived there. It really should have been re-written.

A better, contemporary book is Thomas Lippman's "Inside the Mirage", current up to 2002. Even that has already been overtaken by political events in some regards, the information is far more applicable to modern Saudi Arabia.

25 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not so updated, is it?, May 7, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Saudis: Inside the Desert Kingdom (Paperback)

Actually, as a Western woman, living in Saudi Arabia for the past year, I found the book very interesting and well-balanced. It largely fits with many of my own perceptions of the country, and provided a very clear historical overview of the time between the old boom of the early seventies and the beginnings of political upheaval of the mid-eighties.

HOWEVER, although calling itself an "updated version" -- with this stamped on the cover of the book -- there is little updating apart from the 3 1/2 page Introduction and the 11 page Afterword. I was so disappointed, for example, in the chapter on The World Creeps Closer to find NO updating, at all, as this book was written during the Iran - Iraq war.

In fact, it jars the reader, because of this. The use of present tense in the chapters discussing things 15 years previous to the 2002 publication date is confusing, at best, and misleading at worst. I don't think the few pages tacked on at the beginning and the end, make up for this, unfortunately.

It seems to be cashing in on the 9/11 tragedy, with minimal effort on the part of the author and/or editors. Very disappointing, that!

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing book..., December 26, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Saudis: Inside the Desert Kingdom (Hardcover)

Since I lived in Taif & Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) for 20 years, I believe I have a good grasp of the life in that country. I bought this book even though friends who lived in Saudi Arabia had warned me that I would be disappointed--that the writing was stilted, but most importantly, the author had missed too many important points about Saudi life. Actually, Ms. Mackey's distant observations made me feel she was out of touch with the real Saudi Arabia and with real Saudi Arabians.

Once I realized that this book was written many years ago, and that the author had very obviously spent very few years inside the Kingdom and then has not been back for nearly twenty years, I was quite dismayed.

As someone who spent many years as a guest inside the desert Kingdom, there are books on Saudi Arabia that I would recommend, including Robert Lacey's "The Kingdom" and Jean Sasson's "Princess," but I would not recommend this particular book.