Wednesday, 28 February 2007

DHAHRAN: Saudi Aramco has announced the publication of A Land Transformed: The Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia and Saudi Aramco.

The richly illustrated, 323-page volume tells the story of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Saudi Aramco within the broader context of the history and culture of the Arabian Peninsula, and the worldwide energy industry.

A Land Transformed is a fresh approach to a publication initiated in the late 1940s to acquaint new employees with the history of the people and places where they had come to work.

Over the years, it grew into a comprehensive book spanning the Arab and Muslim worlds. The previous version was called Saudi Aramco and Its World.

This volume offers a new focus and a new text, accented by a variety of sidebars and an array of images from photographers inside and outside the company. A Land Transformed opens with the signing of the Concession Agreement with Standard Oil of California that launched the oil enterprise in the Kingdom in 1933, and then steps back to treat broader topics.

The book's eight chapters cover such subjects as the prehistory of the region, pre-Islamic Arabia, the revelation of Islam, and the emergence of the Saudi state as well as the Kingdom's wildlife. The final chapter is devoted to the petroleum industry and Saudi Aramco.

The book contains more than two dozen maps and hundreds of photographs, including many double-page spreads.

A Land Transformed aims to provide an inviting gateway to learning for those who have no direct connection with the region, Saudi Arabia or Saudi Aramco. For those already familiar with those topics, it strives to offer new insights into a land whose energy resources make it critical to the well-being of nations and whose contributions to civilization - notably Islam and the Arabic language - remain as vital as ever.

The book's editors are Arthur Clark, assistant editor of Saudi Aramco World magazine, and Muhammad A. Tahlawi, who recently retired as the senior member of the Saudi Aramco Affairs Research and Advisory Group in Dhahran.

Four main authors contributed to the book: William Facey and Michael McKinnon of London, Paul Lunde of Cambridge, and Tom Pledge of Dhahran. Among the contributing editors were Pledge and James P. Mandaville, a former Government Affairs employee. In addition, a large number of other individuals from throughout the company played important roles in the preparation and publication of the book.

© The Saudi Gazette 2007