The Saudi enigma : a history.

'Finally, we have a book by someone who has a robust social science approach to what is a modern and fast-changing society, who has lived in, and thought a lot about, the country, who does not fall into conspiracy theory, who avoids the anti-Saudi banalities of the outside world as much as the pieties of the regime, who, in a word, tells us how the country actually works.' Fred Halliday, London School of Economics 'A treasure-house of precise references and analyses, this book does not set out to provide simple answers, but to illustrate the great complexity of the country and to account for the deep changes it has gone through. Particularly enlightrening on the current crisis and the official response to it since 2002.' Sophie Pommier, Le Monde Diplomatique 'A historical and sociological analysis, a balance sheet that eschews illusions.' Francoise Crouigneau, Les Echos 'An astounding, lucid expose - a useful antidote to the many shallow books on Saudia Arabia that have been published since 9/11. This is another example of writing exemplary social history, so different from the political myths devised both by the Saudi regime, its Western allies, and many scholars.' Paul Aarts co-editor of Saudi Arabia in the Balance: Political, Economy, Society, Foreign Policy 'A treasure-house of precise references and analyses, this book does not set out to provide simple answers, but to illustrate the great complexity of the country and to account for the deep changes it has gone through.' The Middle East 'A useful counter-narrative to populist Saudi-bashing'. The Economist 'Menouret presents Saudi Arabia as a complex society governed by distinct but recognizable social forces, stripped of both glamour and mystique but conveyed with clarity and authority.' Jonathan Lindley, RUSI Journal 'A book by someone ... who, in a word, tells us how the country actually works ... This book does much to de-mystify it.' Journal of Third World Studies 'The Saudi Enigma is also notable for what it is not: it is not an essay of Riyadhology or court politics. In the wake of the Saudi succession, that may disappoint some, but this book is all the more illuminating for it.' RUSI Journal