How do you write the biography of an elusive, impulsive prince, the world’s most powerful millennial and ruler of one of its richest, yet still most impenetrable countries? Ben Hubbard’s answer is to weave the thin biographical details into the wider story of Mohammed bin Salman’s rapid, improbable ascent and bind it together with gripping vignettes from years of reporting in the kingdom and around the region. Simply titled MBS, as the crown prince of Saudi Arabia is most often known, this book is impeccably timed – between an oil war with Russia that has sent prices tumbling and a global pandemic that has deprived the kingdom of yet another major source of income. The usually teeming holy sites of Mecca and Medina are deserted and – although still officially scheduled for July – the Hajj, the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca, will mostly likely have to be cancelled.
MBS’s grandiose reform plans are now under intense pressure. His ambition, laid out in Vision 2030 – a programme to lessen the country’s reliance on oil and bring about a more “vibrant” society – was the only reason the young prince became a darling of the West soon after he was catapulted on to the world stage in 2015. He did not deliver on his promise that by 2020 the kingdom would be able to live without oil and his hopes of basking in the glory of hosting the G20 summit in November look dim.
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