Mbs: The Rise to Power of Mohammed Bin Salman Paperback – 13 April 2021

Really enjoyed this portrait of one of wealthiest and most autocratic leaders in the Arab world. Despite a promising start eg Saudi women allowed to drive and in doing so marginalised the hard line clerics- this book paints a picture of a ruler who detains tens of his own family who are not “on message” or who are critical of him personally. Might explain why he hit it off with Trump! Promising start to modernising Saudi and inviting foreign business to help, but killing of Kashoggi remains an indication of his darker side. Fascinating read

Very interesting read.

Great book and very interesting. Informative and quite shocking story of the murder of a journalist. Great book. Worth the money

An authoritative account which gives a clear picture of what was behind the news stories that appeared during the stunningly successful rise of MBS, while also giving an interesting account of how a top international journalist goes about his business in search of stories. The result is an enjoyable concoction of huge money, huge power and murder that would stretch the credibility in an airport novel but rings terrifying true.

Well written, page turner. But could have been braver. 😅

I would recommend it defo worth a read . Good decent book. Quick read go for it. I enjoyed it

This reads more like a trashy biography than a great work of Middle East modern history. (Though, maybe that was what was intended?). And I found myself comparing it to a Piers Morgan diary. However, the writer clearly had none of the same access direct to his subject matter. And that probably explains the bizarre level of focus on his few sources (eg large tracts of Kashoggi's text messages). I also often found myself wondering whether the book was about MbS or other people and events (Kashoggi, for example). And, overall, it didn't hang together brilliantly as a narrative.THAT SAID, if (like me) you don't have much capacity to get into a great work of history (as much as you might like the idea of it) and you like easy-to-read, trashy gossip, then it's a great read! And I have every reason to believe (from other things I've read and my time spent in Saudi) that it's probably pretty near the truth.

A brave book, impeccably researched and presented. Hubbard provides an engaging firat hand account of Saudia Arabia, pre and post MBS and delivers a powerful description of Khashoggi's philosophy and death. I could not put this down.