Michael Darlow and Barbara Bray’s biography probes the life of Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud, a giant of a man with a powerful force of personality, forged the often-warring tribes of the Arabian Peninsula into the country of Saudi Arabia.
The English-language news channel of Al Jazeera consistently is first on the scene of Mideastern developments, and its journalists provide smart analysis of global events. It may be today’s most influential television-news operation.
After WWI, Britain and France made the Arab world the object of history, not its subject. James Barr’s new book shows that the Middle East was born crazy. Later misunderstandings and manipulations were laid atop well-worn grooves.
