About the ReviewerHistorical Dictionary of Saudi Arabia. By J.E. Peterson. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1993. 267 p. (Asian Historical Dictionaries, 14) ISBN 0‑8108‑2780‑8. $32.50.
Saudi Arabia is the fourteenth volume in the Asian Historical Dictionaries series and a very welcome addition, not only for scholars and students of the Middle East but also for anyone seeking background information on the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia, as John Peterson points out in his introduction, has been “under the spotlight of western curiosity” for more than 50 years. It sits on approximately one quarter of the world’s total oil reserves and, as the events of 1990‑91 proved, is an area of intense strategic concern. Yet it still remains a country about which, in the West at least, there is very little understanding beyond these basic facts.
John Peterson has studied and worked in the Arabian Peninsula for over 20 years and is well placed to provide up‑to‑date and balanced information and to correct some of the myths and stereotypes which have grown up around the area. Most importantly he has been able to access information within the Kingdom itself, not always an easy or even possible task for the prospective researcher. The outcome of his research is a treasure trove of fascinating information ranging from excellent biographical notes on leading personalities to key entries containing vital social, religious, and economic data. The main, dictionary, section of the work is supplemented by useful genealogical charts of the Al Sa’ud family, four maps, and a wide‑ranging reading list of secondary sources, arranged according to general topic. Conventions and spellings for European transliteration of Arabic names are also included as well as an invaluable note on the structure of Arabic personal names.
There are one or two small errors which have slipped through the proofreading. For example, the present name of the country—the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia—was formally adopted by a Royal Decree on 22 September 1932, as correctly stated in the chronology (p. 197) and not, as in the introduction, in 1934 (p. x). There are also some surprising omissions. Anyone interested in the ever topical subject of Arabian frontiers will be mystified at the inclusion of the “Blue” Line, established by the Anglo‑Ottoman Convention of 1913 and subsequently used as one of the potential defining lines of the southeastern boundary of Saudi Arabia, but not the “Violet” Line which was to become the basis of negotiations on Saudi Arabia’s still largely undelimited boundary with Yemen. Finally, I would also have welcomed more information about primary sources available for the study of Saudi history. It is a pity that such a comprehensive dictionary does not include more than a brief mention in the bibliography of one of the greatest accounts of the Arabian Peninsula, J.G. Lorimer’s Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia, first printed for official use only by the Government of India at the beginning of this century but now widely available in reprint. The Gazetteer has never been superseded in its range and depth of information on the area and is perhaps the single most useful source for scholars as well as the blueprint for all subsequent historical dictionaries.
These are rather minor criticisms, however, of a book which offers so much information. Historico‑political dictionaries such as these are extremely difficult to compile and their easy‑to‑use format often belies the immense amount of research and scholarship which has gone into their production. This work will fill a gap in the growing body of literature on the region and should be an essential acquisition for any library.
Penelope Tuson is Curator, Political and Middle East Archives, Oriental and India Office Collections, British Library. She was educated at University College, London, taking a B.A. in history and a postgraduate diploma in archive administration. Her publications include Records of the Emirates: Primary Documents, 1820‑1958; and a continuation 1958‑1960 (12 vols.; 1990‑1992), Records of Qatar: Primary Documents, 1820‑1960 (8 vols.; 1991), and Records of Saudi Arabia: Primary Documents, 1902‑1960 (10 vols.; 1992). Her research interests are in Middle Eastern history and in the role of women in South Asia and the Middle East.
© 1994 Dominican University
Citation
Tuson, Penelope. “Book Reviews: Historical Dictionary of Saudi Arabia” Third World Libraries, Volume 4, Number 2 (Fall 1994).