Foreword -- Cast of characters -- Captive narratives: a brief and unexceptional introduction to the history of firms and states -- Part 1. The nearest faraway place -- Arabian frontiers -- American camp -- The wizards of Dhahran -- Part 2. Desire's empty quarter -- Ayyam al-Kadalak (days of the Cadillac) -- Eye of the desert -- El jefe rojo -- America's kingdom -- Afterword -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.