I am still working - slowly - through that library of books I inherited from my grandfather. Last year it was Bertita Harding. Having finished Jerusalem I am now onto David Holden's House of Saud. As finished by Richard Johns because, er, some Arab or other had Holden murdered before he could finish it.
Talk about based.
Anyway so far this book is excellent - written as if by a poet, and pulling no punches on its targets, of which there are many. TE Lawrence was a self-promoter whose chief contribution to the so-called "Arab Revolt" was to funnel bribes to the Sharif of Mecca. Islam was Arab tribal culture put to Scripture and venerated by fundamentalists to put Mark Tapscott to shame; Arab tribal culture is dysfunctional. The Sauds can barely put their own family in order let alone face off against the other families, starting with the Rashids and moving on to the Hashimis.
Some myths are exploded. The Ibn-Sauds are not the parvenus Westerners assume; they did have a centuries-old ... existence, in Nejd and Oman. (Compare, the Bin Ladens.) It is just that the Saud(ide)s were not better than the other families, in particular the Hashimis.
REVIEW 10/4: I am still not done but I can give you a report.
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