"The new generation of twenty-first-century African writers have now come of age. Without a doubt Habila is one of the best." — Emmanuel Dongala In the oil-rich and environmentally devastated Nigerian Delta, the wife of a British oil executive has been kidnapped. Two journalists-a young upstart, Rufus, and a once-great, now disillusioned veteran, Zaq-are sent to find her. In a story rich with atmosphere and taut with suspense, Oil on Water explores the conflict between idealism and cynical disillusionment in a journey full of danger and unintended consequences. As Rufus and Zaq navigate polluted rivers flanked by exploded and dormant oil wells, in search of "the white woman," they must contend with the brutality of both government soldiers and militants. Assailed by irresolvable versions of the "truth" about the woman's disappearance, dependent on the kindness of strangers of unknowable loyalties, their journalistic objectivity will prove unsustainable, but other values might yet salvage their human dignity

The Middle Eastern state of Lobynia had been supplying oil to the U.S.A. for years, but when Colonel Baraka takes over from the king after a coup, there is a change of policy - and the cut-off of oil threatens the whole American economy. Baraka has big plans - but they bring him big trouble. First there is Remo, whose brief is to get the oil flowing again before American industry grinds to a halt. And then there is Chiun, Remo's Korean friend and teacher. Chiun's family holds a centuries-old contract to protect the kings of Lobynia - and Chiun takes his responsibilities very seriously

The basis for the movie There Will Be Blood. Based on the Teapot Dome scandal of the Harding administration, it is the story of Bunny Ross, the son of a wealthy California oil operator, who discovers that politicians are unscrupulous and that oil magnates are equally bad. In Oil! Upton Sinclair fashioned a novel out of the oil scandals of the Harding administration, providing in the process a detailed picture of the development of the oil industry in Southern California. Bribery of public officials, class warfare, and international rivalry over oil production are the context for Sinclair's story of a genial independent oil developer and his son, whose sympathy with the oilfield workers and socialist organizers fuels a running debate with his father. Senators, small investors, oil magnates, a Hollywood film star, and a crusading evangelist people the pages of this lively novel.