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World » Asia » Middle East » Saudi Arabia

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Editor's note, early 2021: A report from the US has implicated Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, in the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The report contains little that's surprising, but as I mentioned in my best nonfiction books of last year, it's hard not to want to know more about a regime that could carry out such a brutal, cold-blooded murder.

If you want to read a good book about Mohammed bin Salman, Ben Hubbard's MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman has been shortlisted for the 2021 Pen/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography.

    The best books on Saudi Arabia, recommended by Madawi Al-Rasheed

  • Read
    The best books on Saudi Arabia - America's Kingdom: Mythmaking on the Saudi Oil Frontier by Robert Vitalis

    1

    America's Kingdom: Mythmaking on the Saudi Oil Frontier
    by Robert Vitalis

  • Read
    The best books on Saudi Arabia - The Other Saudis: Shiism, Dissent and Sectarianism by Toby Matthiesen

    2

    The Other Saudis: Shiism, Dissent and Sectarianism
    by Toby Matthiesen

  • Read
    The best books on Saudi Arabia - Joyriding in Riyadh: Oil, Urbanism, and Road Revolt by Pascal Menoret

    3

    Joyriding in Riyadh: Oil, Urbanism, and Road Revolt
    by Pascal Menoret

  • Read
    The best books on Saudi Arabia - Being Young, Male and Saudi: Identity and Politics in a Globalised Kingdom by Mark C Thompson

    4

    Being Young, Male and Saudi: Identity and Politics in a Globalised Kingdom
    by Mark C Thompson

  • Read
    The best books on Saudi Arabia - Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea

    5

    Girls of Riyadh
    by Rajaa Alsanea

  • The best books on Saudi Arabia - America's Kingdom: Mythmaking on the Saudi Oil Frontier by Robert Vitalis
  • The best books on Saudi Arabia - The Other Saudis: Shiism, Dissent and Sectarianism by Toby Matthiesen
  • The best books on Saudi Arabia - Joyriding in Riyadh: Oil, Urbanism, and Road Revolt by Pascal Menoret
  • The best books on Saudi Arabia - Being Young, Male and Saudi: Identity and Politics in a Globalised Kingdom by Mark C Thompson
  • The best books on Saudi Arabia - Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea

The best books on Saudi Arabia, recommended by Madawi Al-Rasheed

Saudi Arabia is one of the most misunderstood countries on earth. Here Saudi-born anthropologist, Madawi Al-Rasheed, chooses five books to help understand the country, its society and the very modern challenges it faces.

The best books on Saudi Arabia, recommended by Madawi Al-Rasheed

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