The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Saudi Arabia

I spent nineteen years in Saudi Arabia, teaching English for the Institute of Public Administration - five years in Jeddah and fourteen years in Riyadh - between 1980 and 2003 (I took occasional breaks in a vain attempt to preserve my sanity.) And I never lived "isolated" on any "compound." So, I believe I have the credentials to evaluate this book. I began reading it with skepticism, looking for mistakes, misinterpretations, prejudices, spin, etc. Gradually, however, I realized that this author knew exactly what he was writing about. Moreover, his style makes reading about the Kingdom exceptionally enjoyable, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to be fully informed about Saudi Arabia, and I would call it required reading for anyone who plans to go there. The review by AJ (who declares that he is neither an Arab nor a Muslim) is so very misleading. I can assume only that he knows nothing about the Kingdom or that his disclaimer is, shall we say, less than honest.

Talk show hosts and lecture coordinators, book this author. He's a layman's best friend, a scholar who can explain an important but complicated issue briefly and clearly - and make it interesting.From the arrival of Muhammad to the arrival of information technology, from the rise of fundamentalism to the rise of the Saud dynasty, from the discovery of oil in the birthplace of Islam to the discovery that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis, from the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to the American routing of the Taliban, from Arab unity under Nasser to Arab disunity over Saddam. Desert nomads and extravagant princes, veiled faces and unemployed clerics. Revolution and reaction, socialism and democracy, modernization and secularization. Politics, sociology, economics, history, culture, religion, philosophy, theology, psychology, genealogy, even sexuality.Saudi Arabia, everything it affects, and vice versa. Colin Wells puts it all in context and makes it amazingly easy to understand.The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Saudi Arabia is in four parts. Historical background, the Gulf War and its aftermath, Saudi society, and the terrorism issue. It includes an FAQ, a timeline, a bibliography, a glossary, and an index. Definitions, notes, and cross references abound. The book also benefits from lively prose and juicy humor. And the author shares his opinions and predictions liberally. Kudos to the book's designer for making it easy on the eyes.In his letter to the reader, Wells promises, "...an easy, step by step approach that doesn't require any previous knowledge...too many commentators spend their time either condemning or defending without doing any explaining. You need an objective guide, one who has no axe to grind but who also keeps a tough-minded skepticism in play at all times..."He keeps his promise. The book is comprehensive, concise, vivid, insightful, detailed, relevant, and accurate. The ultimate primer on this subject.