From award-winning Wall Street Journal reporters, here's a candid look at the inner workings of the world's most powerful royal family and how the battle for succession led to the emergence of Saudi Arabia's charismatic but ruthless Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS. The sudden rise of 35-year-old Mohammed bin Salman has stunned the world. Political and business leaders such as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and WME chairman Ari Emanuel flew out to meet the crown prince and came away convinced that his desire to reform the kingdom was sincere. He spoke passionately about bringing women into the workforce and easing Saudi Arabia's restrictive Islamic law. He lifted the ban on women driving and explored investing in Silicon Valley. But under the veneer of dozens of consultants and public relations experts such as McKinsey & Company, MBS began to reveal a volatile inner world. Accusations of his extreme cruelty and excesses began to leak, including that he ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. While suppressing dissent, holding 300 people, including prominent members of the Saudi royal family, for months at the Ritz-Carlton and elsewhere, he continued to display his incredible wealth, including the purchase of a $70 million castle in Europe and one of the most expensive yachts in the world . He seemed neither to understand nor to care how the outside world would react to his flexing of authoritarian muscle—flexibility was what was important. "Blood and Oil" is a gripping piece of investigative journalism about one of the world's most decisive and dangerous new leaders. Hope and Sheck show how MBS's meteoric rise coincided with the abandonment of a simple deal that had dominated US-Saudi relations for more than 80 years: oil in exchange for military protection. Famous American bankers, Hollywood figures and politicians are caught in his web, all of them trying to help the charming and treacherous crown prince. The Middle East is already an unstable region. Add to this an ambitious prince with extraordinary abilities, a thirst for profit, a close relationship with the White House through President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and an apparent willingness to tear down anything—and anyone—that stands in the way of his vision, and the stakes for his rise become very high. If his bid fails, Saudi Arabia could become an unstable failed state and a magnet for Islamic extremists. And if his attempt to transform his country is even partially successful, it will resonate around the world. Nominated for Business Book of the Year by the Financial Times and McKinsey