The Oil Hunters: Exploration and Espionage in the Middle East

Description

The fascinating stories of the explorers, spies and entrepreneurs who led the hunt for oil in the Middle East from the 1880s to the outbreak of the Second World War The Middle East had long been awash with rumors and legends of oil, rumors that gradually seeped into Western Europe. The Greek historian Herodotus had once described the existence of "oil-pits" in Mesopotamia, while Jebel Zeit, a mountain on the west coast of the Gulf of Suez, was known by the ancients as Mons Petroleus. However, the discovery that kerosene could be extracted from crude oil and used as fuel for light and heat in the late nineteenth century shifted the hunt for oil into high gear, particularly in the Middle East. Against the backdrop of British and Russian-and increasingly American-maneuverings for dominance in the region, Roger Howard explores the history of oil exploration in anecdotal style and with a lively pace. He brings to life forgotten figures such as Frank Holmes, revered by the Arabs as Abu Naft (the "Father of Oil") and Harry St. John Philby, father of the famous British double agent Kim Philby, as well as figures from the world stage such as Julius de Reuter, founder of Reuters News Agency, the Armenian oil magnate Calouste Gulbenkian and Chicago-born entrepreneur Charles R. Crane. Throughout the twentieth century, the demand for petroleum increased and it eventually became one of the most valuable commodities traded in the world market. The Oil Hunters illustrates how today's oil giants emerged in Persia but also Iraq (Mesopotamia), Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. British Petroleum, for example, was originally the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. Considered by many to be one of the most important events of twentieth century history, the discovery of Persian oil in 1908 is related here as a vivid adventure story of exploration and exploitation, peopled by eccentrics, adventurers and magnates. For more information, visit his website at www.oilhunters.net.

Roger Howard is a writer and broadcaster specialising in international relations. His most recent publications are The Oil Hunters (2008) and Iran Oil: The New Middle East Challenge to America (2006). Roger Howard is a British freelance journalist who has travelled widely throughout Iran. He has written extensively on issues of defense and international relations for many newspapers and journals. His work has appeared in The Daily Mail, for which he covered the US-led war in Afghanistan, The New Statesman, The Spectator, Middle East International, Jane's Intelligence Review and the US journal In the National Interest. He has also broadcast for BBC World Service and for television networks. He took a First in Modern History from Cambridge in 1988.

"Using an anecdotal style, Roger Howard brings to life forgotten figures who controlled the increase in demand for petroleum" - Petroleum Review "A straightforward, unpretentious and enjoyable if familiar account of some of the early concession hunters and oil explorers in the Middle East." Times Literary Supplement, January 2009 Author review article in The Independent. "A fascinating story for anyone interested in one of today's main economic problems: How to reduce the hundreds of billions that Americans spend every year to import oil...the book is packed with intrepid geologists, risk-averse business people, hard-up Mideast rulers and ingenious promoters- all concerned with driving up profits." -The Associated Press 9/11/08 'The Dramatic Days of oil exploration in the first half of the 20th centrury are narrated in gripping fashion by Roger Howard.' The Spectator * Spectator, The *