One would normally have thought that after all that has been written and said about the history and politics of Persian or Iranian oil, it would be a small miracle to write and publish something original in that field. Yet, Leonardo Davoudi has managed to prove us wrong by producing a largely original book on this subject. In every chapter there is something novel, but especially the treatment of the Kitabgi part in the origins of the Anglo-Persian oil agreement. This volume, thus, will be welcomed by all the scholars of twentieth-century British and Iranian history as well as Middle Eastern oil.

Homa Katouzian, St Antony's College, and Member, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford, UK

'The riveting story if the discovery of oil in Persia that helped shape the course of the last hundred years. Leonardo Davoudi is a wonderful guide to the adventures of William Knox D'Arcy to strike oil at the start of the 20th century and why a speculative investment had dramatic repercussions for Persia, Britain and beyond.'

Peter Frankopan, Professor of Global History, Oxford University, UK

'An original and engaging study that captures the birth of Middle Eastern oil, its place in the British Empire, and its impact on modern Iran. Davoudi retells the early history of Iranian oil through new archival sources and the private papers of the Kitabgi family that provide the Persian perspective on the D'Arcy Concession - an outstanding contribution.'

Eugene Rogan, Professor of the Modern History of the Middle East, Oxford University, UK