Behind the Kingdom's Veil

Inside the New Saudi Arabia under Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman
Susanne Koelbl
Forward by Karen Elliott-House

“It’s like watching a movie – just better”
Dr. Elisabeth Kendall
Oxford University, Senior Research Fellow in Arabic and Islamic Studies

Few of us have firsthand knowledge of who lives, suffers and wields power in Saudi Arabia. Now, Susanne Koelbl, award-winning foreign correspondent for the German news magazine Der Spiegel, takes us on an eye-opening journey Behind the Kingdom’s Veil. Koelbl unlocks the black box of Saudi Arabia..

Explore religious extremism, the power and the threat of women activists, oil and arms deals, arranged marriages, ultra-conservatives and young renegades and so much more inside the New Saudi Arabia. She scrutinizes the dramatic change of the oil-export dependent nation into a vibrant society.

Watch the book trailer below

As one of few western female reporters Susanne Koelbl lived and worked in Riyadh during the most dramatic changes since the country’s founding. Her unique gift is to make complicated political and societal contexts accessible and entertaining:

  • enjoy breakfast with Royal Highnesses
  • share in the life of Saudi Arabia’s women first hand
  • meet Osama bin Laden’s bomb-making instructor
  • enter the palaces of secret-service chiefs
  • sit on floor cushions with spirited women who celebrate their new freedoms.

Koelbl makes you an eye witness to what it’s like to be a third wife or a dissident and explains how the discovery of oil shaped the kingdom’s history – and changed our world.

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Behind The Kingdoms VeilS by Susanne Koelbl
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Watch the Book Trailer

Few Westerners have been allowed a closer look at the inner workings of Saudi Arabia. Koelbl lived in Riyadh during the recent, most dramatic changes since the country’s founding.

susanne koelbl author

About the author

Susanne Koelbl is an award winning journalist and a military and foreign correspondent for the German news magazine DER SPIEGEL..

Koelbl is known for her probing reports from Syria, Afghanistan, and North Korea. Her new book Behind the Kingdom’s Veil: Inside the New Saudi Arabia under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was published in September 2020, just one year after the best-seller was introduced in Germany.

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#1 Bestseller on Saudi Arabia and #1 New release on Women in Islam, Middle East, Arabian

Amazon Books
5/5
“A piercingly powerful book…”
Ahmed Rashid,
Ahmed Rashid,author of Taliban and Descent into Chaos
“Winner of the 2020 ITB Book Award “
ITB
ITB World’s Leading International Travel Trade Show
“It’s like watching a movie – just better”
Dr. Elisabeth Kendall
Dr. Elisabeth KendallOxford University, Senior Research Fellow in Arabic and Islamic Studies
“Insights into the Lives of Ordinary Saudis”
NPR
NPRAll Things Considered
“Excellent introduction to the kingdom”
Dr. Bernd Haykel
Dr. Bernd Haykelprofessor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University
“A wonderfully readable book that brings the tangle of complexity to life.”
Dr. Elisabeth Kendall
Dr. Elisabeth KendallOxford University, Senior Research Fellow in Arabic and Islamic Studies
“Championing the Best in International Journalism.”
WeltKiosk
WeltKiosk
“A brilliant contribution to our understanding of the transformation in Saudi Arabia especially among women.”
Bruce Riedel
Bruce Riedelformer CIA official and director of the Intelligence Project at the Brookings Institution
“An invaluable street-level perspective”
Gerald Feierstein
Gerald Feiersteinambassador to Yemen under the Obama Administration and Vice President of the Middle East Institute
“A Spiegel Bestseller – Witness the mysterious world of Saudi Arabia”.
Penguin RandomHouse Germany
Penguin RandomHouse Germany
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