includes index and biblioraphy

This book offers a passionate look at some of the most awful places in the world- the violent, repressive and polluted countries where oil is extracted. The author follows the journey of oil and shows how the substance sullies so much of what it touches, poisioning land and rivers, promoting political bloodshed and creating corruption aon a staggering scale. We tend to gauge the price of oil by its cost at the petrol station or its role in global warming, but Maass vividly shows an altogether differnt price paid by people who live in countries that are rich in petroleum but not wealth or freedom. He shows how the profits of oil benefit mainly the companies and governemtns that receive royalty cheques and will do more or less anything to sustain the flow of money.