The History of Saudi Arabia

America is now engaged in the 10th year of war in Islamic countries, and there is no end in sight. A realistic understanding of the very heartland of the Islamic world is essential for the political leadership in our country - the decision makers - and it is equally important for the academics and "think tank" specialists who provide the advise and "policy papers." This book is not for the casual readership of the general public, but it would be inspiring if a few "enlightened citizens," in the best Jeffersonian ideal, would tackle it, simply to be better informed on one of the central issues of our times. The perception of Saudi Arabia by almost all Americans is universally negative. In part this is the result of a relentless effort to present the Arabs in general, and the Kingdom in particular, by Hollywood, the news media, and in books, in ways that are now unacceptable if the same characterizations were made of Blacks, Jews, or Women. There are the political "hatchet jobs," performed by former Rand employee Laurent Murawiec, who leans heavily on the Hitler analogies to make the case that the Kingdom is the root of all evil. There are several books by women, purportedly concerned about the "plight of Saudi women" that portray a world that is unrecognizable to any real Saudi women. But there is also a growing body of literature that attempts to depict the Kingdom in a realistic light, written by Lacey, Weston, Sanders, Coll, Lippman and others. There is the sweet irony that the best of these comes from our one time friends during the Second World War, our long-time adversary during the "Cold War," and now uneasy ally on some issues, Russia. Alexei Vassiliev has written the most authoritative, and comprehensive history of the Kingdom. Period. The prose is dispassionate, at times it borders on the ponderous, but most importantly it is virtually error free, and there are extensive references in a thorough bibliography. On first glance it might be surprising that a Russian would write the best book on the Kingdom. After all, what is the basis for their interest? On second glance however, it is important to recall that Russia has had a long-term interest, even obsession, with the countries on its southern borders, and its famous quest for a warm-water port. So, Vassiliev not only uses the traditional sources of early British, French, Danish, American and German sources, but also references voluminous diplomatic Russian sources, previously unknown to me, in order to describe events in the Arabian peninsula. Vassiliev "drew me in early" by denouncing one of the earliest promoters of the "fantasy" view of the Kingdom, T.E. Lawrence, more commonly known as "Lawrence of Arabia." In the Notes on Sources, at the very beginning of the book, Vassiliev says, of Lawrence: "...describing events through the prism of his own false pride. His works are of scant scientific significance." The first 200 pages of this 500 page tomb are devoted to events prior to the re-taking of Riyadh, in 1902, by the founder of today's Kingdom, Abdul Aziz ibn Saud. Many traditional accounts of the Kingdom literally start at this point, but educated Saudis are well-aware of the prior two Kingdoms, one even more extensive in terms of geography, than the present country, and dating from the period of the American revolution. Vassiliev covers this period, as well as the subsequent one, in balanced and measured tones, with factually based, and sourced analysis. And sometimes the reader is rewarded with anecdotes that are so relevant today. The following concerns the eponymous founder of the Wahabbi movement (more properly known as Salafis), which Vassiliev attributes to the Hijazi historian Ibn Zaini Dahlan: "Sulaiman once asked his brother Muhammad, `How many are the pillars of Islam, O Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab?' `Five,' he answered. Sulaiman replied, `No, you have added a sixth one. It reads that one who does not follow you is not a Muslim. To you, it is the sixth pillar of Islam.' The latter three-fifths of the book covers the creation of today's Kingdom, with the consolidation of political control occurring in the late 20's, the discovery of oil, and its eventual economic transformation of one of the poorer countries in the world into one of the more influential and wealthy ones. It remains an astonishing transformation, and overall, done well, as Vassiliev confirms. In his measured way, Vassiliev takes on the many Cassandras of doom who made "...speculative forecasts about the impending collapse of all the monarchies in the Arabian peninsula...." by saying: "It has now become clear, however, that Saudi Arabia lacked any major social groups that opposed the regime itself rather than its individual measures" (p 464). There are a few quibbles about the author's work. He will use terms like `henchmen', apparently derived from Philby, which jar in this normally dispassionate account. The last hundred pages or so read like so many economic tables and graphs placed into leaden prose, and they are a slog. A fellow reviewer, and friend, sometimes questions what he perceives as my unwarranted higher ratings on books, and I think his point is: If it is not an enjoyable, informative read, does it deserve 5-stars? For me, the answer is a definite Yes, if the information obtained has been worth the effort, and may be analogous to the extra effort required to read a book that is not in one's native language. Vassiliev's book is not for the "fun read" crowd, but it is immensely informative about a country that is central to many of the dominant issues of our times. Definitely a solid 5-stars plus, and I await the corrections on my reasoning.

P.A. Seslavin and Jana Gough did a superb job of translation.The English syntax is impeccable But the pricipal value of the book is its completeness: A masterly review of the literature, in my opinion more thorough than any previously compiled, supplemented by a bibliography and keyed reference notes is followed by an excellent summation of early Saudi history and the governance of the restorer of Saudi hegemony, Abdul Aziz ibn Abdur Rahman ibn Faisal al Saud,(the main object of my own study) and his sons. The great changes in the mores of the tribes in the decades following the discovery and development of the oil resources of Saudi Arabia is covered only piecemeal by other authors, but summarized very well here and the threats to the existence of the current regime are discussed in some detail. The reasons for Saudi dependence on US support are given, but there could not be a discussion the post 1998 revelations concerning radical clerics and their support of terrorism. Only one minor error regarding the number and leadership of the two forces sent to Asir in 1921-22 came to light in my first reading of this monumental book.

This is an excellent book on the history of Saudi Arabia, but not a staring place for the casual reader. Serious scholars should love it. Vassiliev provides a comprehensive account of the Saudi Royal family and their alliance with Wahhabi Islam, telling the story of how Saudi Arabia came to be established as a state in 1932. Anyone who has not had any prior exposure to Islam or Saudi Arabia had better start elsewhere, but if you are looking for details on Wahhabi Islam, the Bedouin, or the Saudis, Vassiliev will have many answers for you. In the latter half of the book he become somewhat dry and statistical, but overall this is a very solid presentation on the history of a very important, and little understood country.

Living and working in Saudi Arabia, I've read dozens of books on Saudi and Khaliji history. To understand the modern state of the Kingdom (if you don't read Arabic), this tour d'horizon is a necessity. It is slow and overly detailed at several points, but it goes far beyond the Lippman and House superficialities to explain how the different tribes evolved and formed modern Saudi Arabia.

This book is dissecting the Arabian world and how it's constructed in terms of religion and traditions. I highly recommend people to read this book if they want a better understanding and shed some light as to why they do what they do.

If you want one authoritative work about Saudi Arabia and its history, this is the book that you should buy and read. Vasiliev not only thoroughly documents the history of the kingdom since ancient times and through the rise of preaching radical Wahhabi Islam in 1745, he couples this puritan movement with the socioeconomic trends of the Arabian peninsula resultant of its unfriendly desert weather. Even for readers familiar with the history of the region, the author makes striking remarks saying that people should understand the Saudi modern history as the function of a unique event in history. Saudis had the most archaic society on the face of earth at the time they received the biggest fortune ever. Readers might be also surprised to learn that the ruling Saudi family is almost exclusively composed of the sons of the founder and their sons. Another surprising remark the author makes is that, even with the huge budget this kingdom manages, it still has no treasury department. Not very surprising, however, is the typical third world behavior of Saudi rulers who squandered their suddenly generated fortunes either to buy political loyalties or for self luxury. The reader might be amazed at how many chances the Saudis have missed to modernize their country and make use of their once unparalleled wealth. Instead, they protected anti-modernization fundamental groups on which the stay of the regime itself depended.

The bookshelves reveals a surprise: no one (with the only slight exception of Harry St. John Philby) has until now attempted a comprehensive overview of Saudi history going back to the eighteenth century. Vassiliev, a Russian scholar and ranking foreign policy official, has updated his original Russian-language edition, and the result is enormously impressive. Relying on Arabic manuscripts (yes, Arabia was so backward that well into the twentieth century, scholars hand-wrote medieval-style chronicles) and Russian sources as well as the more usual Western authors (and even here, he uncovers forgotten but essential sources, such as the French historian Félix Mengin), he paints a picture of Saudi Arabia from its founder Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab to the aftermath of the Kuwait war. The author has a solid grasp of everything from eighteenth-century theology to the international oil market; need to brush up on the conquest of Mecca or the murder of King Faysal? Here's the place. More broadly, his great accomplishment is to make a hitherto fractured history whole. If you read or own just one book on Saudi Arabia, make sure it is this one. For a flavor, here are noteworthy points concerning the early period: Vassiliev establishes that the Saudi state "attained a might and a size that had been unknown [in Arabia] since the birth of Islam," then shows the radicalism and near-totalitarianism of the Wahhabi doctrine ("it advised people how they should laugh, sneeze, yawn, joke, embrace and shake hands when meeting a friend and so on"). He explains the political and material advantages for tribal leaders in adopting Wahhabism and, more controversially, how it became "the banner of the Arab national movement against the Turkish influence in Arabia." Despite its radicalism, he argues, "Wahhabism did not change the social structure of Arabia," except in such fairly limited areas as taxation and the organizing of power. Middle East Quarterly, March 1999

I've never come across a text on the History of Saudi Arabia as comprehensive as this one. the author starts in the middle of the 18th century with an analysis of the forces that heleped to unite the house of Saud with the Wahhabi movement of Mouhammad abd-al-Wahhab. Vassiliev - who uses a wide variety of Arab, Russian and Western sources - skillfully analyszes economic and social developments. He shows that there are many divisions in Saudi Arabia and that dissent is widespread in many fractions of society. There is an excellent account of the impact of the Iranian Revolution on the Shia of the oil rich Najd and the wahhabi purists who emerged violently on the world scene in an uprising in Mecca in 1979. Saudi Arabia will become a primary focus of world attention as the conflict in Afghanistan ends and exposes the hitherto little revealed dissent and support for radical islamists that exists at many societal levels in Saudi Arabia. Ochin Khorosho, Dr. vassiliev. Tayyib Jiddan

I really enjoyed this book and found its content fascinating. For every person who thinks they are well read, learning as much as possible about Saudi Aribia is an absolute must and this book is more than informative in that regard.

Selten habe ich ein derart umfassend recherchiertes Werk über die arabische Halbinsel gelesen. Der Autor zeigt viel Liebe zum Detail und sorgt mit prägnanten Anekdoten dafür, dass man das Gelesene nicht gleich wieder vergisst. Sehr zu empfehlen für alle, die verstehen wollen, warum Saudi-Arabien vom religiösen Fundamentalismus nicht wegkommt.