Saudi Arabia Visa UK: They say that reading about anything does not equal the experience of living it. But sometimes we need to read about a country in order to get a heads up on what to expect on our first visit or to know some details that only can be revealed by specialized analysts. Today I’m going to take a quick glimpse on some of the books written by foreign authors, that I think to be the most interesting about Saudi Arabia.
The first book is an easy read country guide, ‘Saudi Arabia — Culture Smart’ by Nicolas Buchele. It provides essential information for first-time visitors and tourists to the country. It offers illuminating insights on the basic manners, beliefs and sensitive issues to the Saudi culture, which can help prevent new visitors to the Kingdom from making embarrassing mistakes.
For a more in depth view from a reporter that spent nearly thirty years writing about Saudi Arabia, you can read On Saudi Arabia by the Pulitzer Prize winner Karen Elliott House. Although the writer did not strive for total objectivity, she was successful in depicting some of the local social challenges, such as becoming a welfare state to many of its citizens or the growing frustration of its young youth that are striving to connect to the closed outside world by indulging their time on satellite TV and the Internet.
The third book is by the journalist Robert Lacey, titled Inside the Kingdom. Using his simple but creative style of writing, Lacey was able to portray the 9/11 story and other fundamentalist actions from a Saudi point of view. His good relations with a wide circle of Saudi intellectuals have provided him with many detailed insights into the recent history of the country.
Desert Kingdom by Toby Craig Jones analyzes the Saudi spectrum from two influential and powerful natural elements, which are oil and water. He relays the history of the making of the modern Saudi state through the influence of these environmental powers. He goes into detail on the gradual expansion of central government and the shaping of current politics.
Perhaps the Saudi scene will not be complete without passing by the special relations with a strong political partner, which is the United States. The author Rachel Bronson addresses this relationship in her book ‘Thicker Than Oil’. Throughout a fifty year old journey, Rachel reveals the reasons why this relationship became so intimate and strong, through interviewing some of the leading Saudi and American officials who truly believe it was always more than just oil for security.
A tweet: “To know what people really think, pay regard to what they do, rather than what they say.”
George Santayana Source: arabnews