The Man Who Would Be King: Mohammed bin Salman and the Transformation of Saudi Arabia

by Karen Elliott House

Based on exclusive interviews, an eye-opening biography of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), head of the House of Saud, the calculating ruler of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and a central Middle East power broker.

Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and former Wall Street Journal publisher, Karen House has gained unprecedented insights into Saudi Arabia and its controversial leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman through her more than forty years of experience covering the Arab kingdom.

House reveals a leader who is both Peter the Great--determined to modernize his nation--and Ivan the Terrible--a tyrant who jails his political opponents and rival princes. Drawing on extensive interviews with the Crown Prince, his royal relatives, and his inner ring of advisors, The Man Who Would Be King explains in full what shaped the man who is reshaping Saudi Arabia.

Drawing on fresh, headline-making reporting, House balances both sides of this complex ruler. We are introduced to MBS the visionary, who has ushered in reforms for women to participate more equitably, encouraged tourism to the Kingdom, and placed long term bets on green energy and trillion dollar mega-projects like The Line, a hundred-mile-long enclosed futuristic city in the desert that will be run by AI. And we meet MBS the Machiavellian prince, widely accused of having Washington Post columnist and Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi murdered, and of sports washing the kingdom's reputation by investing billions in teams globally, from Premiere League soccer to the LIV (liv) golf tour to the World Cup which the Kingdom will host in 2034.

The Man Who Would Be King reveals MBS in all his complexities, from his rise to power and his vision for the future of his Kingdom, to his ruthless maneuvers to project power--a shrewd broker working to seal a viable deal with Israel and bring peace to Gaza while he cuts oil supplies to manipulate Western politics. It is an unprecedent and much needed in-depth portrait of the leader who, at only thirty-nine, will be a major player on the world stage for the next half century.

Genres: History, Biography, Politics, Middle East, Nonfiction, Religion

304 pages, Hardcover

First published July 8, 2025

About the author

KAREN HOUSE is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. She studied and taught at Harvard University's Institute of Politics and holds honorary degrees from Boston University (2003) and Lafayette College (1992). She was also a senior fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Reviews

[Murtaza · Rating 1 out of 5]

Karen Elliot House knows a lot about Saudi Arabia and previously wrote a great book about it but it seems like here she has just written a publicity brochure for MBS’s Vision 2030. Also the information in the book was repetitive (same information repeated as new in multiple chapters) which is a sign of bad editing.

[Umar Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll start with the positive. Karen Elliott House has a generally positive view of Crown Prince Muhammad ibn Salman and this is seen throughout the book. I share a similarly positive view of MBS and the trajectory of Saudi Arabia under his leadership.

The negative? Karen Elliott House has a seething disdain for Islam and a visceral dislike of all Saudi religious figures. Any Islamic influence is painted in very negative terms by her and hurdles that must be climbed. She even described the adhan as "haunting." She also speaks dismissively about Saudi women and paints too bleak of a picture.

That said, she does a pretty good job painting a picture of why massive reforms were needed and Vision 2030 is a must. Saudi Arabia could no longer afford corruption, an idle population, and relying exclusively on oil. Young people needed employment and entertainment options in order to survive and thrive, and in order to achieve national goals, a new spirit of patriotism was needed.

Regionally, Iran and the Ikhwan are threats posing existential challenges to the Kingdom and MBS will not play games with 5th columns within the Kingdom, the US has proven to be an unreliable ally, China, India, and Russia are new pillars of a multipolar world, and the Abraham Accords make economic sense, but not political or ethical sense after the war in Gaza (for the moment.. at least). These are the security and policy challenges examined in the book and are often done from an overly American perspective.

I encourage people to visit Saudi Arabia and formulate their own opinions. The 2030 Vision is one based on prosperity, growth, a region free or wars, cultural pride, tourism, and an Islam upon the Middle Path. Open to the world and rooted in tradition.

[Faisal AlEnizy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a compelling work, but it misses one of the most important truths about Saudi Arabia: the unbreakable bond between the Saudi people and the Al Saud family, forged not in oil wealth, but in history, sacrifice, and vision.

For over a thousand years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the heart of Arabia was left behind. The Umayyad, Abbasid, and Ottoman empires ruled vast lands, yet their capitals and priorities lay far from here. No ruler came to invest in our future, to build our schools, to develop our cities, or to prepare our people for the modern world. Arabia remained forgotten, its people left to endure, survive, and hold on to their faith.

King Abdulaziz ended this neglect. With courage, unity, and determination, he proved that the sons of Arabia could govern themselves, protect their land, and build a nation from the sands up, long before a drop of oil changed our economy. My own family fought alongside him, and when my grandfather heard of the unification, he told my father: “Better days are coming.”

Those better days came, and they keep coming. Compare Arabia before and after the Al Saud: from a land without a single school and a population mostly unable to read or write, to a country where I could graduate from a Saudi university and pursue a professional career. This transformation is not just about leadership, it is about a shared destiny between a people and a family that has led them into the modern world.

[Sam Talkington · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot going on in Saudi Arabia. Fascinating.

MBS

[Majed Safaee · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author is in love with the crown Prince and not affraid to tell you that in some 300 pages. You can skip this one.

[N Rizkalla · Rating 2 out of 5]

The most interesting thing about being filthy rich is that nobody will question your sanity, until you really mess up!

The question is: Will MBS be able to utilize the Kingdom’s easy earned wealth into real progress or it will be squandered in megalomaniac projects?

KSA must wean its economy from the full dependence on oil money. Will it be wise to build the tallest building, the largest city, the World greatest park or to build the Human Resources that the kingdom is so poor in.

No doubt there is a sector in KSA society which gets world class education better than any other nation in the Islamic world. But, KSA needs to revolutionize human development for all its population. It is much deeper than allowing gender mixing in work and pop concerts or women driving- issues resolved in societies tens of years ago.

Is MBS the visionary who will be able to transform the Saudi society mentally, vocationally and even spiritually?

The book has no answer to this!

[Marypat English · Rating 2 out of 5]

I learned a little from this book yet it felt very contrived. Parts were an over the top description of all the things MBS wants to build, other parts didn't really dig enough into the opposite sides of who he is. Just wasn't enjoyable or informative enough to consider a higher rating

[Martin Petersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are individuals who fundamentally change their country and often in doing so have an impact far beyond their borders. Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) may be one of these individuals. Karen Elliot House is the former editor of the Wall Street Journal and an expert on Saudi Arabia, a country she has visited periodically for over 40 years. Her book is an excellent introduction to MBS and to Saudi politics and culture.
MBS is a vsionary and a man who as Crown Prince has brought wide and significant change to the Kingdom principally by curbing the power of very conservative Moslem clerics, by driving a very ambitious plan to wean the nation off oil, and by assuming a greater regional and international role. House does not gloss over over the problems in the MSB vision, the country, or the legal system. She does present a balanced picture and as such her book is an excellent introduction to Saudi Arabia and the man who is only 40 and may well be a major international figure for the next 40 years. The book is an easy read.
For those who want to dive deeper into the region and its history, I recommend highly Hourani's A History of the Arab Peoples, Bernard Lewis's The Middle East, A Peace to End All Peace by Fromkin, and Lawrence in Arabia by Scott Anderson.

[Kalyan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first thing that struck me while listening to the audiobook was that the author is a woman, yet the narrator is a man. So when I heard lines like, “I had to wear an abaya in the early days,” I found myself thinking—wait, you're a guy. It felt strange and out of place. I didn't find anything particularly special about the narrator’s voice or modulation either, so the choice seemed odd to me. Anyway, I’ll leave that there.

Coming to the book itself—I'll focus on the content, not the real-world politics around it. The book praises the MBS regime and highlights the sweeping changes under King Salman’s rule. The author is bold and candid, especially when discussing Islam and the Prophet. She demonstrates a strong understanding of the geopolitical landscape and presents a simplified yet insightful view of the relationships between the USA, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Israel, China, Russia, and the broader Middle East.

She unpacks the complexities, the interdependencies, and the “why, what, and when” of major events, raising important questions about the future and the "big ifs." Overall, I wouldn’t say the book tries to be balanced—it leans a certain way—but it is definitely well-researched. Books covering these kinds of topics on the Middle East, especially with this level of depth and clarity, are rare in mainstream public libraries.

[Toni · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was odd to have a book written by a woman narrated by a man for the audiobook and kind of threw me at first. The book did read like a promotional book for MSB and his Project 2030 and had several instances where whole paragraphs were repeated in later chapters, but it was well researched and provided information and insight on Saudi Arabia and the rapid transformation it has undergone because of the vision of MSB and other young, forward thinking Saudis. I am convinced that this is a part of the world that we would do well to try harder to understand and partner with because they are going to be an important global leader.

[Roblee · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely outstanding book on so many levels-depth, insight, personal observations and historical context. MBS is a man of unique vision and force. He is dragging Saudi into the 21st Century, and carefully managing Islam with a slowly becoming more secular country.

[Buck Helm · Rating 5 out of 5]

ouse clearly has incredible access, and it shows. This isn't just a political biography; it's a window into how Saudi Arabia is being completely reshaped from the inside. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to understand what's really happening in the Middle East right now.

[Ronni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Well written, explored in knowledgeable detail about a visionary leader in our time

[Joni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. I have read Ms. House's first book and have always enjoyed reading her essays in the WSJ over the last few decades.

[Tufayel Alom · Rating 4 out of 5]

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