Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Saudis: Inside the Desert Kingdom, Updated Edition by Sandra MacKey ISBN: 0-393-32417-6 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: October, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.73 (11 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Not so updated, is it?
Comment: 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!
Rating: 1
Summary: Not worth your time
Comment: As someone who has lived in Saudi Arabia, I find Mackey's book highly innacurate and misrepresented of the Saudi people, which is probably based on her perceptions of living in a confined compound and not intimately familiar with Arabic. It is unfortunate, MacKey did not evolve her book more around interviews with women, of which she probably had unique access. There are far better books recently published on Saudi Arabia to read, especially if one seeks to understand the Saudi relationship to 9/11: These include "The Kingdom: Arabia and the House of Sa'Ud", by Robert Lacey, "Oil Monarchies: Domestic and Security Challenges in the Arab Gulf States", by Gregory Gause, and by far the definitive book on Saudi Arabian culture "Saudi Arabia and the Politics of Dissent", by Mamoun Fandy.
Rating: 1
Summary: Not accurate, not worth your time.
Comment: I picked up this book a while ago. After living in Saudi for about 12 years I was curious to see how a western author would describe Saudi. My conclusion after reading it is that the book is full of inaccuracies and generalizations. Instead I'd recommned several other books like The Kingdom: Arabia and the House of Sa'Ud, by Robert Lacey, Oil Monarchies: Domestic and Security Challenges in the Arab Gulf States, by Gregory Gause, and the best book I've seen written about Saudi that shows some of the cultural nuances of the country: Saudi Arabia and the Politics of Dissent, by Mamoun Fandy.
 |
Title: The Reckoning: Iraq and the Legacy of Saddam Hussein by Sandra MacKey ISBN: 0393324281 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: April, 2003 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
 |
Title: The Iranians: Persia, Islam and the Soul of a Nation by Sandra MacKey ISBN: 0452275636 Publisher: Plume Pub. Date: April, 1998 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
 |
Title: 1688: A Global History by John E., Jr. Wills ISBN: 0393322785 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: January, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
 |
Title: King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild ISBN: 0618001905 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: October, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
 |
Title: A History of Saudi Arabia by Madawi al-Rasheed ISBN: 0521644127 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 11 July, 2002 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
