Blood and Oil: Mohammed Bin Salman¿s Ruthless Quest for Global Power

　　暢銷書《鯨吞億萬》共同作者布萊利‧霍普、《華爾街日報》獲獎記者賈斯汀‧沙克與聯手著述！
　　沙烏地阿拉伯王儲穆罕默德．本．沙爾曼，何以年僅35歲即威震全球？

　　沙烏地阿拉伯王儲穆罕默德．本．沙爾曼(經常被媒體稱為MBS)的崛起，震撼了世界。各國政府與企業領導人如英國前首相布萊爾、奮進集團首席執行長伊曼紐等政商名流，不辭辛勞，大老遠飛到沙烏地阿拉伯與之會面後，紛紛讚賞王儲對改革遵循嚴格伊斯蘭律法的制度、提升女權的決心。而他也確實著手鬆綁規範，開放在矽谷進行投資、解除女性駕駛禁令。

　　然而他深受愛戴，卻也頗具爭議，曾被指控謀劃暗殺《華盛頓郵報》記者賈邁勒．卡舒吉，也曾為剷除異己而軟禁大批權貴與皇室成員。其生活之奢華，也令人歎為觀止，譬如他曾買下7千萬美元的城堡及世界最昂貴的遊艇之一。儘管外界言論不斷，但他卻依然故我，似乎完全不在意他人的眼光。

　　本書是對於這位世界上最有權勢也最危險的新任領導者之一，深入調查、剖析的精彩作品。兩位作者呈現出在美國、沙烏地阿拉伯因石油與軍備的矛盾，已經糾結了80幾年的背景下，MBS如何驟然崛起，讓銀行大亨、好萊塢巨星、政壇老手與新星等全球政商名流，紛紛拜倒在他的魅力之下，爭相討好這位炙手可熱的王儲，並解析在本就充滿動盪的中東地區，如今加上充滿野心、權勢與手段的王儲，更添變數，MBS在掌權與大刀闊斧的改革之路的成敗，極有可能對全球帶來哪些巨大影響。

　　(文/博客來編譯)

　　From award-winning Wall Street Journal reporters comes a revelatory look at the inner workings of the world's most powerful royal family, and how the struggle for succession produced Saudi Arabia's charismatic but ruthless Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, aka MBS.​

　　35-year-old Mohammed bin Salman's sudden rise stunned the world. Political and business leaders such as former UK prime minister Tony Blair and WME chairman Ari Emanuel flew out to meet with 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 toning down Saudi Arabia's restrictive Islamic law. He lifted the ban on women driving and explored investments in Silicon Valley.

　　But MBS began to betray an erratic interior beneath the polish laid on by scores of consultants and public relations experts like McKinsey & Company. The allegations of his extreme brutality and excess began to slip out, including that he ordered the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. While stamping out dissent by holding 300 people, including prominent members of the Saudi royal family, in the Ritz-Carlton hotel and elsewhere for months, he continued to exhibit his extreme wealth, including buying a ＄70 million chateau in Europe and one of the world's most expensive yachts. It seemed that he did not understand nor care about how the outside world would react to his displays of autocratic muscle—what mattered was the flex.

　　Blood and Oil is a gripping work of investigative journalism about one of the world's most decisive and dangerous new leaders. Hope and Scheck show how MBS' precipitous rise coincided with the fraying of the simple bargain that had been at the head of US-Saudi relations for more than 80 years: oil, for military protection. Caught in his net are well-known US bankers, Hollywood figures, and politicians, all eager to help the charming and crafty crown prince.

　　The Middle East is already a volatile region. Add to the mix an ambitious prince with extraordinary powers, hunger for lucre, a tight relationship with the White House through President Trump's son in law Jared Kushner, and an apparent willingness to break anything—and anyone—that gets in the way of his vision, and the stakes of his rise are bracing. If his bid fails, Saudi Arabia has the potential to become an unstable failed state and a magnet for Islamic extremists. And if his bid to transform his country succeeds, even in part, it will have reverberations around the world.

　　Longlisted for the Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award

Bradley Hope, based in London, is the New York Times bestselling coauthor of Billion Dollar Whale and covers finance and malfeasance for the Wall Street Journal. Before that he spent six years as a Middle East correspondent. Hope is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and Gerald Loeb Award winner.

Justin Scheck, based in New York, has worked at the Wall Street Journal since 2007, covering white collar crime across four continents. He has been writing about Saudi Arabia since 2016. Scheck is a Pulitzer Prize finalist.