{"product_id":"9781785121609","title":"Engulfed : How Saudi Arabia Bought Sport, and the World: SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2025 by James Montague","description":"SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2025 WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR'Bravura on the ground reporting' - David Goldblatt, award-winning author of The Ball is Round'This is an important book' - Simon Kuper, bestselling author of Soccernomics, Chums and Bar?a'Compelling' - The Times'A subtle examination of the complex interplay between global ambition, economic power, and ethical considerations' - MoneyWeek'A comprehensive and shocking account' - When Saturday Comes_________In 2034, Saudi Arabia will host the men's FIFA World Cup and mark the culmination of Mohammed bin Salman's ambitious plan to modernise Saudi Arabia, a kingdom of unfathomable wealth at the heart of the Islamic world, which is only now emerging from nearly a century of self-isolation. How did we get here? Why would a country spend tens of billions of dollars, perhaps even hundreds of billions in the long run, to buy and control sport?Engulfed is a story about ambition, family rivalries, extreme wealth, power, murder and disinformation. It is also the story of dictatorship, political corruption and, at its root, how sport - football, yes, but also golf, boxing and even e-sports - became a vital geopolitical tool for Saudi Arabia.   Drawing on Montague's exclusive first-hand interviews from his extensive travels across Saudi Arabia, the US, the north-east of England, Spain, Turkey and beyond, Engulfed uncovers how the House of Saud zeroed in on the political power of sport, using it both as a powerful political tool of influence and as a way to rectify the PR damage caused by one of the most infamous assassinations in history: the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Hardback","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56305426956661,"sku":"9781785121609","price":22.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781785121609.jpg?v=1762797448","url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/products\/9781785121609","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}