Written by a foreign correspondent resident in Morocco since 1952, Morocco under King Hassan is an impartial chronicle of all the major events in the North African kingdom during this period, relating how the king, who claimed to be a direct descendent to the Prophet Muhammad, reigned for more than thirty years despite attempts by leftists, the military, and Muslim fundamentalists to overthrow him. Due to strict press laws, no Moroccan has ever published a dispassionate account of the country and its monarchy. Most books on the subject tend to fall into one of two categories-those that are hymns of praise for the Moroccan monarchy, and those arguing that it is one of the most despotic and reactionary regimes in the world. Morocco under King Hassan is a journalist's objective view of a country he has lived in for nearly fifty years. The book, now available in paperback, covers the nationalist struggle for independence, conflicts with neighboring Algeria, the guerrilla war in Western Sahara, and all other major political, economic, and social developments that have turned Morocco into a multiparty democracy with a liberal economic system that makes it unique in the Arab world.