Joseph Delaney used to be an English teacher, before becoming the best-selling author of the Spook's series, which has been published in 30 countries and sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide. The first book, The Spook's Apprentice, was adapted into a major motion picture starring Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore.

Joseph Delaney

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Jean Sasson

In a land where Kings still rule, I am a Princess. You must know me only as Sultana, for I cannot reveal my true name for fear that harm will come to me and my family for what I am about to tell you. 
 
Think of a Saudi Arabian princess and what do you see? A woman glittering with jewels, living a life of unbelievable luxury. She has gold, palaces, swimming-pools, servants, designer dresses galore. But in reality she lives in a gilded cage. She has no freedom, no vote, no control over her own life, no value but as a bearer of sons. Hidden behind the veil, she is a prisoner, her jailers her father, her husband, her sons. 
 
'Sultana' is a member of the Saudi royal family, closely related to the King. For the sake of her daughters, she decided that it was time for a woman in her position to speak out about the reality of life for women in her country, whatever their rank. She tells of her own life, from her turbulent childhood to her arranged marriage - a happy one, until her husband decided to take a second wife - and of the lives of her sisters, her friends and her servants. In contrast to the affection and easy camaraderie amongst the women, she relates a history of appalling oppression against them, everyday occurrences that in any other culture would be seen as shocking human rights violations: forced marriages, servants bullied into sex slavery, summary executions. 
 
Princess is a testimony to a woman of indomitable spirit and great courage. By speaking out, 'Sultana' risked bringing the wrath of the Saudi establishment upon her head and upon the heads of her children. For this reason, she told her story anonymously.

Princess

Readers of Princess Sultana's extraordinary biography Princess were gripped by her powerful indictment of women's lives behind the veil within the royal family of Saudi Arabia. They were every bit as fascinated by the sequel, Daughters of Arabia. 
 
Here, the princess turns the spotlight on her two daughters, Maha and Amani, both teenagers. Surrounded by untold opulence and luxury from the day they were born, but stifled by the unbearably restrictive lifestyle imposed on them, they reacted in equally desperate ways. 
 
Their dramatic and shocking stories, together with many more which concern other members of Princess Sultana's huge family, are set against a rich backdrop of Saudi Arabian culture and social mores which she depicts with equal colour and authenticity. We learn, for example, of the fascinating ritual of the world-famous annual pilgrimage to Makkah as we accompany the princess and her family to this holiest of cities. Throughout, however, she never tires of her quest to expose the injustices which her society levels against women. In her courageous campaign to improve the lot of her own daughters of Arabia, Princess Sultana once more strikes a chord amongst all women who are lucky enough to have the freedom to speak out for themselves.

Daughters Of Arabia

Princess 2

In Princess, readers were shocked by Sultana's revelations about life in Saudi Arabia's royal family. Royal women live as virtual prisoners, surrounded by unimaginable wealth and luxury, privileged beyond belief, and yet subject to every whim of their husbands, fathers, and even their sons. Daughters of Arabia featured Sultana's teenage daughters, determined to rebel but in very different ways. 
 
And now, in Desert Royal, Sultana's fight for women's rights in a repressive, fundamentalist Islamic society, has an extra sense of urgency. The threat of world terrorism, the gathering strength of religious leaders and the discontent of impoverished Saudis are threatening to topple the comfortable world Sultana has known. But an extended family 'camping' trip in the desert brings Sultana and her relatives face to face with their nomadic roots, and nourishes her will to carry on the fight for women's rights in all Muslim countries. 
 
This updated edition contains an all-new chapter as well as a letter from Sultana herself, encouraging all women to take up the struggle for freedom for their abused sisters throughout the world.

Desert Royal

Princess 3

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