Book 47 - Blood and Oil by Bradley Hope and Justin Sheck

Reading date - December 2020

I read Billion Dollar Whale (BDW) around around this time in 2019 back when the only corona we knew was a beer and a facemask was a relaxing treat I threw on my face when I was in need of some down time.  I was in the process of leaving my old job and when I interviewed for my new one, we spent ages discussing BDW.

This book is by two authors, one of those also co-authored BDW.  This is not as entertaining as BDW but it is still a very good read if you are interested in this type of thing.  I, for one, am; that's why I read this book.

The authors write a good book, it's very well researched, parts are written with shade and I love that.  As it was more full on that BDW, it did take me a bit longer to read but I still really liked it and would recommend it to anyone who wants to know how Saudi Arabia works and how MBS rose to power so quickly.  BDW could easily be a Hollywood film, this isn't written in the same way as it's more the story of how power was consolidated so it's a bit dry.

There are good charts and family trees in the book which explain how things have worked for years and how things came to be as they are now.  The book covers many very interesting things, for example the issues with Qatar, the issues with Iraq, the 9/11 attacks, the visit of that orange man to the area and how MBS wants to modernise a country...by letting women drive(!)  The book also doesn't skirt around what happens to those who defy or get in the way of MBS.. Jamal Khashoggi is featured quite heavily in this book.

I am no fan of the Middle East, they are all backwards countries with appalling records of human rights abuses so I always take anything written about how progressive they are with a pinch of salt.  The entire Middle East has been built off the back of poor immigrant labour by taking people from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh etc..and working these people to death in many cases.  You want people to build the country up for you but you won't let them buy property or become citizens? Lapse brehs. Human exploitation ain't for me..and as for the stealing of passports and beating your maids up, nah man.  I don't see why you feel you need maids when you do fuck all yourself??

I also don't agree with the fake veneer of respectability they put on themselves whilst at home, showing themselves to be religious and pious men when in reality they're flying models and little boys around the world to fuck them and shit on them.  

Anyway, my personal feelings and facts aside, this book is very educational and explains easily why he wants global power and how he's going about getting it (basically being the puppet master behind his dad and getting rid of all the other cousins who should actually be in power).