Saudi Arabia dropped from sight when the oil glut began in 1981, in part because decisions made there mattered less, in part because the gilded age had come to an end. Mackey's coverage of the 1982-84 period helps bring the Saudi story up to date.
She covers one topic especially well: the economic and psychological dilemmas Saudis face as their income diminishes. "All that was created during the years of plenty must now be maintained or it will be reclaimed by the relentless punishment of the desert." The phenomenal growth of the 1970s carries other implications too. "Saudi Arabia is learning that although the desert can be made beautiful, for every tree and blade of grass that is planted, it takes technology to pump the water and manpower to tend the soil to make them grow. As a result, the xenophobic Saudis have come out of the oil boom inextricably bound up with their foreign work force." And all this takes money; Mackey's conclusions point to a continued need for maximum income from oil and (therefore) a low price per barrel.
The strength of Mackey's book lies in her first-hand experience and the vividness of her anecdotes; its weakness lies in the inaccurate and superficial efforts to tap the scholarly literature for explanations of such subjects as Islam and Arabian history. Skip these and you gain much valuable new information.
