Mbs: The Rise to Power of Mohammed Bin Salman

I was really waiting to read this book and I am an avid reader. I find the author is all over the place and hard to follow and very badly written. There is nothing in this book that I found revealing, new, or shocking that we never heard or read about MBS. Not sure now why there was so much hype about this book before it came out. Didn't learn anything and more than disappointed. I wasted my money big time.

I admit that I am generally ignorant about things Saudi Arabian, but this book is a highly readable portrait of MBS. It is revealing and disturbing, for it demonstrates that MBS, despite his stated objective of bringing his country into the 21st Century, is an authoritarian thug who will stop at nothing to protect what he sees as his self-interest. And when I say "nothing," I mean just that - up to and including kidnapping, torture, and murder. I started reading this assuming that the imprisonment of his fellow princes at the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton and the murder of Jamal Khasoggi were as bad as it got, but those are only some (OK, the worst, but still just some) of his misdeeds. Even if this is only half the story, it's a pretty scary half.A riveting read that I couldn't put down, albeit for all the wrong reasons.

This is the first in a series of anticipated books on the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman (MBS). Ben Hubbard has set a high standard for investigative journalism. What stands out in this exceptional book is the vast amount of research that Hubbard has undertaken. Those interested in the upbringing and background to one of the Arab world’s most powerful, mercurial and notorious political leaders will benefit from this book. However, there are many others reasons for reading it. Arguably, the most important being the details on the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi, whose name will be forever associated with MBS. A powerful and penetrating read that is worth your time.

We have followed Hubbard's reports on Saudi Arabia in the NYT, impressed by his insider view of the country's culture and entranced by his reporting on its unvisited ancient sites. Immediately ordered his book on MBS! It's remarkably clear and accessible; Hubbard's vast range of sources are detailed in the notes, but integrated smoothly into his narrative. Makes recent Middle Eastern history intelligible for the outsider, pulling recent events and reports into a coherent, but never facile, whole. Painlessly educates the reader from a fair-minded worldview, grounded in the values of just government and free journalism.

I've been traveling regularly to Saudi Arabia over the past 10 years and this book provides an unbiased insight into life within the Kingdom today under MBS. It shows both the tremendous progress that's been happening (even before MBS) as well as the new harsh reality activists and anyone who does something that might anger MBS has to face. This book provides the nuances of life under a complex ruler and country with a bizarre history of an extremist religious right partnered with a modern royal family. The author hits all the key points and this book is an important read for anyone interested in the future of the Middle East.