Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia

Do I want to read some white guy making fun of my country? Hell, yeah! Clearly, this book is illegal. I almost feel the need to hide my review in spoiler tags just to add a hardly substantial layer between me and the black GMC. Hey, is that actually a spoiler? Eight years later and everything is still illegal.

Probably a little too long for the casual (non-Saudi) reader to enjoy, this is the political history of Saudi Arabia. But the chapters are nice and small and the style is, in my opinion, funny and engaging, so maybe the casual reader can handle it.

Come on over if you want to read about how the government was stuck in a cycle of adding more religious intolerance to combat the terrorism that resulted from force-feeding the people show more religious intolerance. You also learn about how some of the jihadis who came back from Afghanistan went on to have regular, average-citizen lives... one of them became a marriage counsellor and then had to take it to TV because the husbands all refused to go to marriage counselling.

Other than his infatuation with the reigning king of the time, Lacey isn't afraid to show how ridiculous (AKA horrible) things can be here. I'm not entirely sure if he uses juxtaposition of culture to humorously convey the Saudi mindset or if it just sounds that much worse in the language of the free world.

Is it weird if I think of this book as my autobiography? No, you're right, I'm not Saudi Arabia. But I did just learn from the epilogue that my 25th birthday -in a month and a half- is also the 27th anniversary of the first protest for women's driving, and I still can't drive.

whydidheonlymentionanassassinationofakingwithoutanyotherinformationgoddamnwhathappenedthere show less

My wife and I are about to begin an assignment in Saudi Arabia that will have us living there for months or possibly years, thus my need to quickly increase my knowledge about the Kingdom and its culture. This book by Robert Lacey is actually a follow-up to a much larger volume titled simply, The Kingdom, that Lacey first published in 1981. This, basicaly, is a sequel, but one written with the purpose of understanding the events that occurred after 1981 related to Saudi Arabia, specifically the war in Afghanistan, the rise of Al-Qaeda, 9/11, the embassy attacks within Saudi Arabia, and Guantanamo Bay. The title, therefore, is both accurate and inaccurate: if anything, Lacey's premise is that the last 30 years has forced Saudi Arabia to show more come to the realization that the Kingdom affects and can be affected by events outside its borders, for better or worse, and can no longer be denied by the King.

It's a fascinating book, and Lacey an engaging and smooth writer. Things I was able to learn from the narrative include finally understanding some of Saudi Arabia's attitude towards its neighbors (as well as sections of its own population) by Lacey's clear explanation of the Sunni and Shia differences. The book also illustrates the strange shift in Saudi attitudes towards hardline Muslim extremists and business-focused Westerners by focusing on several of the important power brokers in addition to the Al-Saud family.

The book was published in 2009, but based on what I've already learned from my first trip to the country, is in need of a couple of additional chapters, as Saudi Arabia continues to both embrace and fight a rapid pace of change. Just in the last year, a university dedicated to women's education has been completed near the Riyadh airport and several economic cities dedicated to trade, banking, and manufacturing are due to be completed in he next year. Women continue to press for more rights (not just the right to drive, but with regards to family and property rights) and the religious police have recently been pulled back from some more egrigious behavior. All of these are on a pendulum, one that Inside the Kingdom reveals can just as easily swing back in a more conservative direction.

It's going to be an interesting time here. show less

Good information about a Country which we in the U.S. rarely have read about or studied. One one hand, it's a major trading partner of our Country, keeping us provided with needed oil. Yet it's also one of the most conservative countries which promotes an extremely conservative version of Islam throughout the Muslim world. It also gave me some insight as to possibly why the majority of the 9/11 terrorists were Saudi. So here's a Country which supplied the majority of the 9/11 terrorists, and yet gave England and the U.S. advance information about explosive packages being mailed to Synagogues in Chicago from Yemen, probably preventing a pre-election time terrorist attack in our Country. So the book provides valuable information about a show more complex and conservative Country, and helps explain some of the actions of the Royal Family. show less

Overall enjoyable and interesting book, but too sprawling and disconnected to earn a higher rating. Worthwhile reading if you're looking for a non-judgmental portrayal of the complex religious and social tensions which underlie modern Saudi society. Reading the book, I was reminded of my great good fortune to have been born in the West.

Well-told, with minimal snark, recent history of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, concentrating on the royal family and their mainly clerical antagonists over the last 20 - 30 years. It's a easy, enjoyable read but includes, maybe necessarily, little about regional relationships, so didn't leave me feeling all that well informed..

A rel insight into how Saudi Arabia works, and the problems it faces! Great book

adult nonfiction.