A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS CHOICE A gripping behind-the-scenes portrait of the rise of Saudi
Arabia s secretive and mercurial new ruler Revelatory . . . a vivid portrait of how MBS has
altered the kingdom during his half-decade of rule. The Washington Post Finalist for the PEN
Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Financial Times Foreign
Affairs Kirkus Reviews MBS is the untold story of how a mysterious young prince emerged from
Saudi Arabia s sprawling royal family to overhaul the economy and society of the richest
country in the Middle East and gather as much power as possible into his own hands. Since his
father King Salman ascended to the throne in 2015 Mohammed bin Salman has leveraged his
influence to restructure the kingdom s economy loosen its strict Islamic social codes and
confront its enemies around the region especially Iran. That vision won him fans at home and
on Wall Street in Silicon Valley in Hollywood and at the White House where President Trump
embraced the prince as a key player in his own vision for the Middle East. But over time the
sheen of the visionary young reformer has become tarnished leaving many struggling to
determine whether MBS is in fact a rising dictator whose inexperience and rash decisions are
destabilizing the world s most volatile region. Based on years of reporting and hundreds of
interviews MBS reveals the machinations behind the kingdom s catastrophic military
intervention in Yemen the bizarre detention of princes and businessmen in the Riyadh
Ritz-Carlton and the shifting Saudi relationships with Israel and the United States. And
finally it sheds new light on the greatest scandal of the young autocrat s rise: the brutal
killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in Istanbul a crime that shook Saudi
Arabia s relationship with Washington and left the world wondering whether MBS could get away
with murder. MBS is a riveting eye-opening account of how the young prince has wielded vast
powers to reshape his kingdom and the world around him. Praise for MBS Saudi Arabia is testing
the extremes of tradition and innovation of half-baked visions and intensifying repression.
Ben Hubbard s authoritative reporting on the inner sanctums of its society offers a perfect
synthesis of journalism and area expertise: the best description we have at the moment of why
things happen as they do in the kingdom. Robert D. Kaplan author of The Return of Marco Polo s
World
