Heart and Soul: A Memoir
Jane Waldron Grutz
Ali Mohammed Al-Baluchi, with Alison Hooker.
2021, Medina Publishing, 978-1-91148-755-5, £20 hb.
"My intention is not to write another history book but, ... I hope you will indulge my reflections on the families that have contributed so much the development of the region and the changes that have occurred here during my lifetime."
—Ali Mohammed Al-Baluchi
—Ali Mohammed Al-Baluchi
Born in a tiny fishing village on the Arabian Gulf, Ali Baluchi was only a few years old when the first geologists from California arrived in Saudi Arabia to search for and, in 1938, discover the oil that would later bring great prosperity to the kingdom. As the company grew, so too did the need for a trained Saudi workforce, and in the 1940s Baluchi was among the early cohorts of young Saudis who entered Aramco-sponsored schools. There, American expatriates taught him English and honed the skills that he used to rise to management positions. Filled with insights into the culture in which he was raised, Baluchi’s memoir focuses primarily on the close friendships that developed between Aramco’s expatriate pioneers and Saudi nationals as they worked together to create one of the most successful companies in the world today.
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