Book excerpt: From the opening of a U.S. consulate in Dhahran in 1944 through the conclusion of his ambassadorship to Saudi Arabia in 1965, Parker T. Hart played a critical part in building the U.S.-Saudi security relationship, a key aspect of U.S. diplomacy in the Middle East to this day. Drawing on his personal involvement in events as well as the documentary record, Hart provides fresh insights into early Saudi-U.S. diplomatic relations - from, Franklin D. Roosevelt through Lyndon B. Johnson - and details the construction of the Dhahran airfield, King Faisal's consolidation of the Saudi nation, and U.S./U.N. intervention to halt Saudi-Egyptian hostilities sparked by the revolutionary war, in Yemen. Saudi Arabia and the United States also offers perspectives on politically sensitive current issues, such as U.S. military bases in the Middle East and the security of the vast Saudi oil reserves.