Mirage: Power, Politics, and the Hidden History of Arabian Oil
At the close of World War I, the great oil reserves of the Arabian Peninsula lay hidden beneath the desert sands. Westerners dismissed today’s opulent Gulf States as little valued back lots among the rich real estate that made up the British Empire. Although the British adeptly appropriated the underground petroleum lakes in Iran and then in Iraq, across the water on the Arab side of the Persian Gulf the entire peninsula was deemed worthless by world experts who insisted, "There is no oil in...
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Journalist and Arab and Islamic scholar Keating describes the intrigue and power politics surrounding the discovery of oil fields in the Arabian peninsula between the world wars. New Zealand geologist Frank Holmes who found and mapped the oil fields; Winston Churchill; the British administration in India; Harry Philby, father of Soviet spy Kim; Abdul Aziz bin Saud, proclaimed king in 1932, Herbert Hoover, consulting engineer for the mining industry and later US president; and British archaeologist Gertrude Bell are among the well known figures with fingers in the pie. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
\ From the Publisher"[E]xcellent microanalysis…Strong on documentation and factual evidence, this high-quality volume will surely serve historians and those interested in the oil industry.…Highly recommended."\ - Choice\ "Any studying Middle East history or culture, particularly those at the college level, will find the weighty 560-page Mirage: Power, Politics, and the Hidden History of Arabian Oil to be a methodical and important survey of the discovery, development and use of Middle Eastern oil…An in-depth, essential pick for any collection solid in Middle Eastern studies and issues."\ - Midwest Book Review\ "The book is extensively researched, and written so well…very readable and interesting."\ - Books-On-Line.com\ "Well researched, well written, and eminently readable. I have known some of the personalities mentioned, and also experienced the oil industries in the localities with which this study is concerned, but until I read it, the truth had not been clear to me."\ Peter Avery, OBE Emeritus Professor, Oriental Studies Kings College, Cambridge\ \ \
