The man who would be king Mohammed bin Salman and the transformation of Saudi Arabia

Former Wall Street Journal publisher House (On Saudi Arabia) paints an uneven portrait of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince. The book comprises a series of thematic, at times repetitive essays that document how the sixth son of an elderly king radically changed the country in less than a decade. While briefly covering Mohammed Bin Salman's consolidation of power, which involved trapping dozens of influential Saudis in a Ritz-Carlton, House mainly focuses on MBS's efforts to implement his "vision of a new, modern kingdom," including by allowing women more rights and pioneering "gigaprojects," such as Neom, a "futuristic development the size of Massachusetts." House's effusive descriptions of MBS--who "doesn't need sartorial trappings of power or regal airs because he has the real stuff"--and firsthand accounts of his development projects, including a theme park where "a visitor can't help but be struck by the relaxed smiles of Saudis," can be strikingly uncritical. This is especially jarring in combination with her coverage of imprisonments, disappearances, and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which she concludes was "a rendition gone wrong." House is at her most astute when she analyzes MBS's position as a young man at the helm of an even younger country ("Some 65 percent of Saudis are under thirty") that is in pursuit of "big dreams." Still, this feels like a missed opportunity. (July)

Longtime journalist House draws on 40 years of travels to Saudi Arabia to present a portrait of a nation transforming, for good and ill. "Today's Saudi Arabia is literally unrecognizable from that of 2016," writes House, adding, "No country has undergone such dramatic change in so short a time." This is largely due to Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, the crown prince and true power behind the throne of his father, the aged King Salman. Though callow in youth--House recounts his buying a Lamborghini while still in high school and immediately wrecking it--MBS, as he's shorthanded throughout, emerged as a serious man intent on reforms that will lead, among other things, to Saudi Arabia's joining the world's top 10 economies. One way to do that is to diversify the economy beyond oil, and this is happening. More profound changes have come in social matters: MBS has steeply curtailed the powers of the feared religious police, relaxed countless restrictions on women, and, born in 1985, sidelined much of the former gerontocracy. These changes have in turn come with a cost, as House writes, for MBS has jailed thousands of Saudis, some for corruption but many for political reasons. House, who has long had access to MBS, is generally admiring but far from uncritical: She notes that one of the victims of the new government's repression was the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, brutally murdered by Saudi agents in Istanbul, possibly at MBS's behest, direct or not. Somewhat to his credit, House adds that "while denying any prior knowledge, he has acknowledged his responsibility." Regardless, MBS enjoys great popularity at home and general respect from abroad, even as "he already sees himself as an historic figure, a leader not only transforming Saudi Arabia but impacting the world with his big dreams and bold intentions." A well-crafted key to understanding a central player in world politics. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.