British Petroleum and the Redline Agreement: The West's Secret Pact to Get Mideast Oil

This an exceptional and important book detailing the behind the scenes wrangling over the oil resources of the middle east at the turn of the last century. Extremely well researched - and given the complexity of the subject matter - very well written, this book should be a must read for any student of the modern middle east. The author approaches his subject without obvious bias and produces a fair and factual rendering of the many competing interests that were at work at the time. As a student at university I wrote a brief research paper on the Sykes Picot agreement. At the time it seemed to me to be the driving force for the way countries were created in the region, but after reading this book I realize it was more of a sideshow to the real action, which was a combination of national and business interests around organized exploiting the oil resources of the region. One again, this is a very important book and I am thankful to the author for writing it! It will serve as a foundational work for those seeking to understand why the region is the way it is today.

Great book. Difficult reading, but fairly short. Very interesting and helps you understand the political issues of the Middle East today. It was assigned to me for a law class, so I have had some explanation along with it. Well worth the read if this is an area of interest

I can get my britches in a bunch just for hearing about the Middle East machinations and maybe that is partly why I like this book. I wish that our peerless leaders had read it before wandering in to liberate the poor down-trodden pipples of Iraq. Unfortunately, it wasn't published until 2011.

I have read other books by Mr. Black and found them illuminating. This book explains much regarding our current oil problem.

CRITICAL TO POST 1900 UNDERSATANDING OF MULTI-NATIONAL FOREIGN POLICIES BASED ON THE SUPPLY OF & ACCESS TO A STEADY SUPPLY OF CHEAP OIL PETROLIUM PRODUCTS FOR BOTH WAR & PEACE NEEDS G. LA TOURNERIE, WEXFORD SYSTEMS, LLC.

A great history of this period and very interesting read. Edwin Black's books are always educational.

Excellent book. Certainly worthy of buying - it explains a lot about how the Middle East came to be what it is today to a degree that I have never seen in a history course.

If you are looking for reference or the origins of the israeli-palestinian conflict , opec birth or petro conflicts is great, but the amount of details make it a dense, brick like book