List of illustrations                      x
        List of tables                             xi
Preface                                            xii
Chronology                                         xvi
Glossary                                           xx
        Map 1 Saudi Arabia, main regions and       xxiii
        cities
        Map 2 Saudi Arabia, main tribes            xxiv
Introduction                                       1    (12)
    1 Society and politics, 1744-1818 and          13   (24)
    1824-1891
      The origins of Al Sa'ud (1744-1818)          14   (8)
      A fragile Sa'uadi revival (1824-1891)        22   (3)
      The Rashidi emirate in Ha'il (1836-1921)     25   (4)
      The Sharifian emirate in Hijaz               29   (4)
      Hasa in the nineteenth century               33   (2)
      Emirate formation in Arabia                  35   (2)
    2 The emerging state, 1902-1932                37   (32)
      The capture of Riyadh (1902)                 37   (2)
      The First World War and Ibn Sa'ud            39   (2)
      (1914-1918)
      The capture of Ha'il (1921)                  41   (1)
      The capture of Hijaz (1925)                  42   (4)
      The mutawwa'a of Najd                        46   (10)
      The ikhwan                                   56   (3)
      An alliance not so holy: Ibn Sa'ud, the      59   (7)
      mutawwa'a and the ikhwan
      The collapse of the ikhwan rebellion         66   (3)
    3 Control and loyalty, 1932-1953               69   (33)
      Marginalising Sa'udi collateral branches     69   (2)
      Consolidating Ibn Sa'ud's line of descent    71   (6)
      Power and pomp in the pre-oil era: the       77   (6)
      majlis
      State affairs                                83   (4)
      The oil concession (1933)                    87   (2)
      Oil in commercial quantities                 89   (3)
      Oil and society in the 1940s and 1950s       92   (5)
      Saudi Arabia and Britain                     97   (4)
      The end of an era                            101  (1)
    4 The politics of dissent, 1953-1973           102  (28)
      The reign of King Sa'ud (1953-1964)          102  (8)
      Saudi Arabia and the Arab world in the       110  (3)
      1950s
      Saudi Arabia and the United States in the    113  (3)
      1950s and early 1960s
      The reign of King Faysal (1964-1975)         116  (8)
      Faysal and the Arab world                    124  (6)
    5 From affluence to austerity, 1973-1990       130  (28)
      Affluence: the oil embargo (1973)            131  (4)
      Vulnerabilities: Sa'udi-American             135  (3)
      relations in the 1970s
      The reign of King Khalid (1975-1982)         138  (5)
      Austerity: the reign of King Fahd            143  (7)
      (1982-2005)
      Saudi Arabia and the Gulf context in the     150  (4)
      1980s
      Sa'udi-American relations in the 1980s       154  (4)
    6 The Gulf War and its aftermath, 1990-2000    158  (24)
      Sa'udi responses to the Gulf War             163  (3)
      State responses: the reforms of March 1992   166  (5)
      The Islamist opposition                      171  (9)
      Succession                                   180  (2)
    7 Narratives of the state, narratives of       182  (29)
    the people
      Official historiography                      183  (7)
      Political speech                             190  (2)
      The historical narrative challenged          192  (5)
      The centennial celebrations: the capture     197  (11)
      of Riyadh revisited
      The centennial celebrations challenged       208  (3)
    8 The challenges of a new era                  211  (31)
      Internal challenges                          212  (21)
      External pressures                           233  (9)
    9 Modernising authoritarian rule               242  (33)
      The state reformist agenda                   242  (11)
      A new king                                   253  (8)
      Society's reformist agenda                   261  (14)
Conclusion                                         275  (3)
Appendix I Al Sa'ud rulers in Dir'iyyah            278  (1)
(1744-1818)
Appendix II Al Sa'ud rulers in Riyadh              279  (1)
(1824-1891)
Appendix III Ibn Sa'ud's sons (1900-1953)          280  (1)
Notes                                              281  (10)
Bibliography                                       291  (15)
Index                                              306