Saudi Arabia's leading artist presents an insider's view of the modern Middle East, drawing on personal and historical archives to explore religion, oil, geopolitics, and regional conflict from 1979 to the present - a moment of major social transformation in the Kingdom.

This richly illustrated and superbly designed book explores its author's life and work against the backdrop of 40 years of transformation and conflict across the Arabian Gulf and Islamic world. A doctor-turned-artist, Ahmed Mater has continually confronted his traditional context. Here he explores Arab and Islamic society in an era of globalization and social upheaval to uncover the unofficial histories that have shaped the present.

Mapping his life and work on a historical timeline, the book offers an unprecedented insight into changes forged by and in the Kingdom, and its significance in world religion, culture, and geopolitics. Celebrating 20 years of Mater's art-making, organising, and activism, this book is not only a mid-career survey of an essential artist, it is an urgent prognosis of a society in dramatic transition.