Blood and Oil

Blood and Oil portrays Mohammed bin Salman as one of the most consequential leaders of the modern Middle East — bold, strategic, and transformative, yet capable of immense repression. He wants to reinvent Saudi Arabia as a post-oil economic engine and social hub for global investment, while simultaneously silencing dissent with force and surveillance. The book argues that Saudi Arabia stands at a historic crossroads: modernization is accelerating, but accountability has not followed. MBS could lead the kingdom into a new era of prosperity and global influence, or his authoritarian approach could ignite internal backlash and international isolation. Ultimately, his legacy will depend on whether rapid progress can coexist with freedom — or whether power concentrated in one man risks future instability.

Bradley Hope is an award-winning investigative journalist and nonfiction author known for exposing the inner workings of global power, financial corruption, and international intrigue. A former reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Hope spent years covering the Middle East, high-finance crime networks, and geopolitical affairs, often working in regions marked by secrecy and volatility. His reporting has been recognized as a Pulitzer Prize finalist, reflecting a career rooted in deep research, on-the-ground sourcing, and fearless storytelling.

Hope specializes in uncovering hidden money trails and the elite figures who move markets and politics from behind the scenes. His books, including Blood and Oil, Billion Dollar Whale, and The Rebel and the Kingdom, blend investigative rigor with narrative suspense, giving readers a cinematic look into real-world power struggles. Through interviews, leaked documents, and immersive field reporting, Hope documents how political ambition, wealth, and corruption shape global events.

Whether tracking the rise of Mohammed bin Salman, analyzing one of the most audacious financial scandals in history, or exploring modern activism and rebellion, Bradley Hope’s work illuminates the forces that operate where money and power intersect. His writing continues to influence public conversation, offering readers a deeper understanding of how modern empires are built — and broken.