8vo. 313 pp., maps, plans, cloth in d/w, appendix, biblio, index, previous owner’s name inscribed verso front & lower cover, browning to half title page, otherwise copy clean inside and in very good condition, Croom Helm, London 1981.

Synopsis

This study provides essential background to the contemporary problems of Saudi Arabia in its focus on the early years of the Saudi state and the way in which King Abd al-Aziz first created a nation state and asserted his family’s authority. It argues that the geography of Central Arabia was a crucial factor in determining how he fused together the Bedouin tribes and the settled communities into a political entity. [Jacket].