Haven't read it, Prince. What is it's slant - political/social comment/current affairs? If it enlightens the unenlightened about the Wahhabis, that's interesting. They were the very 'basic' Islamic brethren who supported the original House of Sa'ud (hence putting the 'Saudi' into 'Arabia') to overthrow Rashid, the powerful Governor of Riyadh, back in the early 1920s, and to put the first Saudi king on the throne. They supported the House of Sa'ud for decades, but have also been a very threatening presence to it as it has sought to attempt to evolve the country, and to make it just slightly more open and transparent to the outside world.
The autonomy (the royal family IS the state) is a fine balancing act between the ability of the Sauds to hold onto their positions, thanks now to the support of Western allies, versus the undercurrent of fundamentalism which has seen many internal bombings, bomb and assassination attempts, and shoot-outs with the police and army, which continue to this day, in the Kingdom. The Wahhabis do not wish to adjust to foreign ways, or to in any way see what they perceive as a weakening of fundamental Islam through the gradual (by Western standards, snail-paced) emancipation of women in particular, and the encouragement of foreign influences through education, travel, the Internet, etc., on the other.
When the late King Sa'ud (great grandfather to the current one, Abdullah) introduced the automobile, it was declared a satanic device by the Wahhabis. That was until he demonstrated how an injured person could be carried much more quickly (and comfortably) to a doctor. King = 1, Wahhabis = nil. When film and then television was introduced, the same old reaction. TV will corrupt our pure youth, blah, blah. The then King showed that much education and information of a non-trivial nature could be broadcast. After a couple of attacks on the tv station, the Wahhabis were told to pack it in, or a return of fire might be ordered. They sulked offstage, still cursing 'profane images'. How interesting, then, that offshoots of the same tree now use these 'profane images' to bring us videoed details of their beloved leader (old Osama), and the occasional beheading of the hapless infidel who falls into their unforgiving clutches. Funny old world, ain't it?
