MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman By Ben Hubbard Tim Duggan Books 384 pp., $28 Where does one begin? Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia and likely its next king, emerged almost out of nowhere.  His father, Salman, the current king, was not expected to be the monarch, but two older full brothers predeceased him, so Salman became crown prince in 2012. When his half-brother King Abdullah died in 2015, Salman, then aged 79, succeeded to the throne despite concern about his mental faculties. Discarding two crown princes en route, Salman finally designated his son Mohammed, widely known as MBS, as his successor in 2017 and has allowed him almost free rein, or “reign,” ever since. So MBS, who had served as minister of defense from January 2015 and deputy crown prince from April...

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