Author: Naveen Patnaik
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780865651227
Category : Bikaner (Princely State)
Languages : en
Pages : 120
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Book Description
Naveen Patnaik's fascinating text brings fresh meaning to this incredible visual record of a lost and exotic world. A Desert Kingdom is essential reading for anybody interested in the colorful life of the great subcontinent and a unique, evocative reminder of its past.
Author: Toby Craig Jones
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674059409
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321
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Book Description
Oil and water, and the science and technology used to harness them, have long been at the heart of political authority in Saudi Arabia. Oil’s abundance, and the fantastic wealth it generated, has been a keystone in the political primacy of the kingdom’s ruling family. The other bedrock element was water, whose importance was measured by its dearth. Over much of the twentieth century, it was through efforts to control and manage oil and water that the modern state of Saudi Arabia emerged. The central government’s power over water, space, and people expanded steadily over time, enabled by increasing oil revenues. The operations of the Arabian American Oil Company proved critical to expansion and to achieving power over the environment. Political authority in Saudi Arabia took shape through global networks of oil, science, and expertise. And, where oil and water were central to the forging of Saudi authoritarianism, they were also instrumental in shaping politics on the ground. Nowhere was the impact more profound than in the oil-rich Eastern Province, where the politics of oil and water led to a yearning for national belonging and to calls for revolution. Saudi Arabia is traditionally viewed through the lenses of Islam, tribe, and the economics of oil. Desert Kingdom now provides an alternative history of environmental power and the making of the modern Saudi state. It demonstrates how vital the exploitation of nature and the roles of science and global experts were to the consolidation of political authority in the desert.
Author: Sandra Mackey
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 9780393324174
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 468
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Book Description
In this updated insider's look at Saudi Arabia, Mackey reveals the chaos of a country in transformation: grappling with modernity, coming to terms with its own wealth, and battling to maintain an influential stance in an altogether new world. 2 maps.
Author: Rory Miller
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300222165
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 506
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Book Description
An expert in Arab Gulf politics offers a revealing analysis of the region’s stunning rise to global power and the challenges it confronts today. Once just sleepy desert sheikdoms, the Arab Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait now exert unprecedented influence on international affairs—the result of their almost unimaginable riches in oil and gas. In this accessible study, Gulf politics expert Rory Miller examines the achievements of these countries since the 1973 global oil crisis. He also investigates how the shrewd Arab Gulf rulers who have overcome crisis after crisis meet the unpredictable future. The Arab Gulf region has become a global hub for travel, tourism, sports, culture, trade, and finance. But can the autocratic regimes maintain stability at home and influence abroad as they deal with the demands of social and democratic reform? Miller considers an array of factors—Islamism, terrorism, the Arab Spring, volatile oil prices, global power dynamics, and others—to assess the region’s future possibilities.
Author: Barbara Bray
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1620874148
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 941
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Book Description
Ibn Saud grew to manhood living the harsh traditional life of the desert nomad, a life that had changed little since the days of Abraham. Equipped with immense physical courage, he fought and won, often with weapons and tactics not unlike those employed by the ancient Assyrians, a series of astonishing military victories over a succession of enemies much more powerful than himself. Over the same period, he transformed himself from a minor sheikh into a revered king and elder statesman, courted by world leaders such as Churchill and Roosevelt. A passionate lover of women, Ibn Saud took many wives, had numerous concubines, and fathered almost one hundred children. Yet he remained an unswerving and devout Muslim, described by one who knew him well at the time of his death in 1953 as “probably the greatest Arab since the Prophet Muhammad.” Saudi Arabia, the country Ibn Saud created, is a staunch ally of the West, but it is also the birthplace of Osama bin Laden and fifteen of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers. Saud’s kingdom, as it now stands, has survived the vicissitudes of time and become an invaluable player on the world’s political stage.
Author: Jill Koolmees
Publisher: Random House Australia
ISBN: 1863254374
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 334
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Book Description
'Saudi Arabia is a place with a climate from hell, a country where public beheadings are commonplace, where outsiders are unwelcome. Yet somehow its very inaccessibility has fascinated generations of travellers. Wherever we are told we cannot go, our imaginations run wild.' When Jill Koolmees follows her husband to Saudi Arabia, she is in for a journey that challenges her beliefs, her marriage, even her sanity. Share her voyage of discovery through desert oasis, souk and shopping mall, and meet a cast of characters that includes housemaids and pilgrims, fanatics and princes. Above all, there are the women of Arabia. From her first tentative attempts at contact to letting go at an all-woman disco, Koolmees gives us a fascinating glimpse behind the veil. 'Tell them about us,' urge her new friends, and in this recounting of the joys and challenges of their lives, she fulfils her promise. A uniquely personal and timely portrait of a region under the international spotlight, MY DESERT KINGDOM offers a rare insight into a hidden world.
Author: Shannon Mayer
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 280
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Book Description
Looking to rescue dragon hatchlings? Check. Piss off a demon in the process? Check. Have my mate stolen by a raging psycho who wants his babies? Damn . . . . I, Zamira "Reckless" Wilson, do solemnly swear I wanted a vacation from trouble. The problem is, trouble did not want a vacation from me or those that I love. We managed to pass the first test set out for us by the desert goddess on our path to finding the dragon hatchlings. Of course, that means I really have the eye of Asag, the Beast from the East, on me now. Maks has been taken by a woman known as the Storm Queen. As her pet and possibly as her baby daddy. So instead of going after the second step that would take us closer to Asag and the dragons, I am racing south to the Sea of Storms to rescue Maks. Queen or no queen, I am not giving up on my mate. But like all things in my life, nothing is going as planned. I've ended up with another Jinn to deal with, a five-year-old shifter who loves to call out my cursing, and a detour that takes me away from Maks. The clock is ticking, and we are closing in on the players that would stop us from making things right . . .if only my black cat bad luck would ease off, we'd be good.
Author: Olivia Gates
Publisher: Harlequin / SB Creative
ISBN: 4596067740
Category : Comics & Graphic Novels
Languages : en
Pages : 128
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Book Description
Princess Aliyah arrives to her wedding in a black wedding dress. This is a declaration of war to her husband, King Kamal. Seven years ago, the two were in a relationship, but he messed around with her and then left her. Now, the two of them end up in an arranged marriage, and she is being forced to give him an heir. Aliyah treats him coldly during the ceremony and that resistence awakens something within him. As the drums pronounce them husband and wife, Kamal takes Aliyah into the depths of the palace into his bedroom. Unable to hold himself back anymore, he rips off her black dress...
Author: Michael Morpurgo
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
ISBN: 0545300134
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 101
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Book Description
A young boy is stranded on a small island with a mysterious man who shows him how to survive in this adventure story by the acclaimed author of War Horse. When Michael’s father loses his job, he buys a boat and convinces Michael and his mother to sail around the world. It’s an ideal trip—even Michael’s sheepdog can come along. It starts out as the perfect family adventure—until Michael is swept overboard. He’s washed up on an island, where he struggles to survive. Then he discovers that he’s not alone. His fellow-castaway, Kensuke, is wary of him. But when Michael’s life is threatened, Kensuke slowly lets the boy into his world. The two develop a close understanding in this remote place, but the question of rescue continues to divide them. Praise for Kensuke’s Kingdom “[A] poignant adventure story . . . This well-crafted story has all the thrills and intrigues of Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet . . . and Theodore Taylor’s The Cay . . . and it will resonate with the same audience.” —School Library Journal “Highly readable.” —Booklist
Author: Howard Andrew Jones
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1429994819
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 298
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Book Description
The glittering tradition of sword-and-sorcery sweeps into the sands of ancient Arabia with the heart-stopping speed of a whirling dervish in this thrilling debut novel from new talent Howard Andrew Jones In 8th century Baghdad, a stranger pleads with the vizier to safeguard the bejeweled tablet he carries, but he is murdered before he can explain. Charged with solving the puzzle, the scholar Dabir soon realizes that the tablet may unlock secrets hidden within the lost city of Ubar, the Atlantis of the sands. When the tablet is stolen from his care, Dabir and Captain Asim are sent after it, and into a life and death chase through the ancient Middle East. Stopping the thieves—a cunning Greek spy and a fire wizard of the Magi—requires a desperate journey into the desert, but first Dabir and Asim must find the lost ruins of Ubar and contend with a mythic, sorcerous being that has traded wisdom for the souls of men since the dawn of time. But against all these hazards there is one more that may be too great even for Dabir to overcome... Advance Praise for THE DESERT OF SOULS: "The Desert of Souls is filled with adventure, magic, compelling characters and twists that are twisty. This is seriously cool stuff." -- Steven Brust, New York Times bestselling author of the Vlad Taltos series "A grand and wonderful adventure filled with exotic magic and colorful places — like a cross between Sinbad and Indiana Jones." -- Kevin J. Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of The Map of All Things "Like the genie of the lamp, Howard Jones has granted this reader's wish for a fresh, exciting take on the venerable genre of sword-and-sorcery!" -- Richard A. Knaak, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Legends of the Dragonrealm "Howard Andrew Jones spins an exciting and suspenseful tale in his historical fantasy debut. A rich, detailed tapestry -- part Arthur Conan Doyle, part Robert E. Howard, and part Omar Khayyam, woven in the magical thread of One Thousand And One Nights." -- E.E. Knight, Author of the bestselling Vampire Earth "An entertaining and enjoyable journey into a world of djinns and magic far darker than expected, yet one that ends with hope, both for the characters... and that there will be yet another book." -- L. E. Modesitt, Jr, author of the Recluse Saga, the Imager Portfolio, and the Corean Chronicles "A modern iteration of old school storytelling. Highly recommended to anyone in search of a fun run through strange lands and times." -- Glen Cook, author of The Black Company Series "Howard Jones wields magic like a subtle blade and action like a mighty cleaver in his scimitars and sorcery tale, weaving together Arabian myth, history, and some honest-to-gosh surprises to create a unique story that you'll not soon forget." -- Monte Cook, author of The Dungeon Masters Guide, 3rd Edition "A rousing tale of swords against sorcery. Howard Jones writes with wit and flair. His world is involving, authentic and skilfully evoked. The best fantasy novel I have read all year." -- William King, Author of the Space Wolf trilogy and creator of Gotrek and Felix "A whirlwind tale of deserts, djinn and doors to other worlds, told in a voice perfectly pitched for the style and setting." -- Nathan Long, author of Bloodborn and Shamanslayer "An Arabian Nights adventure as written by Robert E Howard. It is exciting, inventive, and most of all fun." -- Dave Drake, author of The Legion of Fire
