Oil and the Glory The Pursuit of Empire and Fortune on the Caspian Sea

"Remote, Forbidding, and Volatile, the Caspian Sea long tantalized the world with its vast oil reserves. But outsiders, blocked by the closed Soviet system, couldn't get to it. Then the Soviet Union collapsed, and a wholesale rush into the region erupted. Along with oilmen, representatives of the world's leading nations flocked to the Caspian for a share of the thirty billion barrels of proven oil reserves at stake, and a tense geopolitical struggle began. The main players were Moscow and Washington - the former seeking to retain control of its satellite states, the latter intent on dislodging Russia to the benefit of the West." "The Oil and the Glory is the gripping account of this latest phase in the epochal struggle for control of the earth's "black gold." Steve LeVine, who was based in the region for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Newsweek, weaves an astonishing tale of high-stakes political gamesmanship, greed, and scandal, set in one of the most opaque corners of the world."--BOOK JACKET.Levine, Steven is the author of 'Oil and the Glory The Pursuit of Empire and Fortune on the Caspian Sea', published 2007 under ISBN 9780375506147 and ISBN 0375506144.