 |
|
 |
This author appeared at the 2009 festival. Please view the list of authors appearing at this year's festival or see our suggestions for similar authors below.
 Mark Weston
To many in the West, Saudi Arabia is easy to criticize. It is the birthplace of Osama bin Laden and 15 of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers. Saudi women are not permitted to drive, work with men, or travel without a man's permission. Prior to 9/11, the Saudis sent millions of dollars abroad to schools that taught Muslim extremism and to charities that turned out to be fronts for al-Qaeda. In Prophets and Princes: Saudi Arabia from Muhammad to the Present, a highly respected scholar who has lived in Saudi Arabia contends that despite these serious shortcomings, the kingdom is still America's most important ally in the Middle East, a voice for moderation toward Israel, and a nation with a surprising ability to make many of the economic and cultural changes necessary to adjust to modern realities. Filled with new and underreported information about the most controversial aspects of life in Saudi Arabia, Prophets and Princes is a must-read for anyone interested in the Middle East, oil, Islam, or the war on terror. Weston, a former Visiting Scholar at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh, has worked for ABC News and has written for The New York Times and The Washington Post. He is the author of The Land and People of Pakistan and Giants of Japan: The Lives of Japan's Greatest Men and Women. A graduate of Brown University and the University of Texas Law School, he lives north of Manhattan.
On the web: Click Here
|
|
