Since September 11, 2001, the world has changed dramatically in several ways. War, paranoia and instability in the Middle East are all direct consequences of 9/11. Many people blame the Bush administration for much of these changes for the worse. This book seeks to shed light on the nature of that administration and, above all, its relationship with Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, which owns approximately 25% of all known oil reserves. House of Bush, House of Saud is a title that suggests a conspiracy, but this book does not belong to the conspiracy genre. Instead, it seeks to trace the relationship between the Bushes, senior and junior, along with their associates, and the Saudi elite families. At times the connection seems a little questionable, but for the most part this is a very powerful and well-researched book that leaves the reader both enlightened and a little unsettled. The reader will certainly see the Bush administration and American politics in the future with a different perspective. The close relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia dates back 60 years, but what generated its special intimacy was the oil crisis of 1973. Starting in 1970, American oil production began to decline and the country became increasingly dependent on foreign oil. Saudi Arabia has become central to maintaining the American way of life. Much of the oil dollars that flowed into the bank accounts of the Saudi royal family due to the surge in oil prices were invested in the United States. Unger estimates that since the mid-1970s, 85,000 very wealthy Saudis have collectively invested at least $860 billion in American companies. Houston Texas, the oil capital of the United States, has benefited more than any other city and now has a significant Saudi presence. The Bush family has had ties to the oil industry for years. George H. Bush bought an oil company in the 1950s and sold it, at an astonishing profit, ten years later. His lifelong confidante and collaborator, James Baker, is also linked to the oil business. Be a partner at Baker Botts, a large Houston law firm representing the interests of the oil industry. When Bush began assembling his presidential team in 1978, it relied on a new political network in Houston, that of Big Oil. His son George W. Bush's administration went much further, openly representing the oil industry like never before.