Reviews

MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman by Ben Hubbard

berryzkobold's review

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dark informative medium-paced

4.0

megabooks's review

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dark informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.0

peterc's review

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dark informative fast-paced

5.0

tonka_blue's review

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5.0

Godinama već usputno pratim što se događa u Saudijskoj Arabiji. Prvo je rat u Jemenu dao neke natruhe promjene u toj zemlji Arapskog poluotoka. Međutim, jasno je bilo da se nešto događa kad su u kućnom zatvoru u Ritzu završili neki od najmoćnijih ljudi Saudijske Arabije. Nestanak novinara Jamala Khashoggija za kojeg se vrlo brzo ispostavil0 da je ubijen bilo je ulje na vatru koja se rasplamsala i progutala svijet.

A kao odgovorni, odnosno ključni faktor, u sva tri slučaja vrlo brzo se pokazao princ Muhamed bin Salman.

Ova knjiga upravo govori o tome tko je on i kako je u samo nekoliko godina uništio neke od najjačih temelja Saudijske Arabije i sam promijenio tijek povijesti te zemlje.

Knjiga Bena Hubbarda idealna je za sve one koje zanima suvremena Saudijska Arabija i uloga koju ima MBS, pri čemu autor nije propustio međunarodne okolnosti u kojima je mladi princ napredovao i prodavao svoju viziju svijeta kao ni odnose sa svjetskim moćnicima posebice njegov odnos s Jaredom Kushnerom, zetom američkog predsjednika Donalda Trumpa.

'MSB: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman' izuzetna je knjiga jer tečno prolazi kroz društvene i ekonomske aspekte Saudijske Arabije, no uz opise svakodnevnih ljudi i utjecaja promjena koje je donio MSB što daje na autentičnosti. S obzirom na kompleksnost teme, autor je vrhunski uspio postići širinu informacije, no izbjeći uniformiranost akademskog pisanja koja bi bila pogubna s obzirom na samu temu.

allireadsalot's review

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informative medium-paced

4.0

An astonishing work of non-fiction, centred around Mohammed Bin Salman's rise to the ranks of Saudi Royal Family.  Astonishing stories, horrific and terrifying truths, and exceptional journalism.  A must-read for anyone interested in the geopolitics of the Middle East (a group I would not consider myself a part of, and yet, this book was fascinating ) 

jcr's review

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dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

3.75

miguelf's review

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4.0

The main protagonist of MBS is not a sympathetic figure, unless of course one identifies with Middle Eastern royalty that prioritize buying half billion dollar luxury yachts and dreaming of future techno-fantasy cities in the desert. It’s perhaps why Hubbard spends a good portion of the book describing Jamal Khashoggi’s background and ultimate notorious demise as we encounter someone we can actually identify with and root for. It might have been MBS’s absence of any written documentation or few interviews, or it may be that MBS is such a cypher. However, what little is concretely known about him is laid out well in this work, although the relationship between him and Kushner is perhaps just as well documented in the recent book ‘American Oligarchs’. As the author points out, we might be seeing this daunting leader ruling well into the 2060’s which based on what we know doesn’t bode so well for Saudi Arabia or the greater region.
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