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Book SynopsisA First-Hand Look at Saudi Arabian Life as Few Outsiders Have Seen It"It's like watching a movie - just better," Dr. Elisabeth Kendall, Oxford University, Arabic and Islamic Studies.
2020 Finalist Sarton Women's Literary Award for Nonfiction
#1 Bestseller on Saudi Arabia, Social Group Studies, Islam, Civil Rights, Islamic Banking & Finance
Witness the mysterious world of Saudi Arabia. Understand Saudi culture, politics, history, human rights, and women´s rights as seen through the intimate and insightful experiences of an award-winning journalist.
Few Westerners have been allowed a closer look at the inner workings of Saudi Arabia. Susanne Koelbl, prize-winning journalist for the German news magazine Der Spiegel, strips away the veil covering many secrets of this mysterious kingdom. For years she traveled the Middle East, and recently lived in Riyadh during the most dramatic changes since the country’s founding.
Peek inside the black box that is Saudi Arabia. Koelbl has cultivated relationships on every level of Saudi society and is equally at ease with ultra-conservative Salafi preachers, oppositionists, and women from all walks of life.
- Listen to intimate conversations with women about their newly offered freedoms
- Have breakfast with Royal Highnesses, meet Osama bin Laden’s bomb-making trainer, enter palaces of secret service chiefs
- View an in-depth portrait of the all-powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS)
If you have an interest in books such as Robert Lacey’s Inside the Kingdom, Bradley Hope’s Blood and Oil, or Kim Ghattas’s Black Wave; expect unique insights into the new Saudi Arabia, travel through the rapidly changing kingdom, and be a witness to very personal encounters with the citizens of Saudi Arabia in Susanne Koelbl’s Behind the Kingdom’s Veil.
Table of ContentsTable of Contents Prologue Foreword Welcome to the Salafists: How My Landlord Tries to Save Me from Satan Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman: Time of the Bulldozer Life under the Abaya: Black or Black? Complex Family Affairs Car Cowboys The Men’s Running Group, or How Mr. Zayd Lost His Groove Brief Escapes: The Malls We’ll Get You: Death of a Dissident In the North: With the Proud Shammar, Where Men Can Still Be Men In the East: With the Shia, Where Oil and Trouble Can Be Found Alcohol: How the Buzz Gets into the Bottle The Crown Jewels: Oil, Power, Money Bandar, the Black Prince: Saudi Arabia’s Secret Weapon Seven Dates a Day Keep the Devil Away The Royals: A Terrifyingly Nice Family The Faustian Pact of Diriyah The Magic Scent of Wood and Sweat Qatar: My Brother, My Foe The Magic of Batha How Little Karim Tried to Solve the Yemen Crisis Richard of Arabia: Making the Desert Bloom Blue Gold Forbidden Love among the Wahhabis Brave Women Osama bin Laden’s Bomb-Making Instructor Reveals All Birthday with Evil Spirits Marriage, a Straitjacket Room for a Single Woman, Please Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing Liberated Art The Beauty of Al-Ahsa through the Eyes of Abdullah The Revolution Comes Too Late for Pious Jamila Epilogue Acknowledgments Timeline of Saudi History Glossary Selected Bibliography About the Author
