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Using newly-uncovered private papers, as well as public and private archives in three countries, this book tells the definitive history of the first discovery of oil in Iran - the first discovery of oil in the Middle East. Exploring the formal and informal dealings of politicians, investors, civil servants and intermediaries Leonardo Davoudi charts the development of Persian petroleum from uncertain beginnings to becoming one of Britain's largest oil companies with the British government as its principal shareholder. Assessing the relationship between economic and political forces within the British empire and the relationship of foreign economic forces and domestic political forces in Persia, the book also explores the role of intermediation, informal empire, the Anglo-Russian rivalry over Persia, British naval developments and Persian political developments.
List of contents
Acknowledgements
i - Introduction
ii - The D’Arcy Concession
iii - Preparing the Groundwork
iv - End of an Era
v - Tribal Resistance
vi - The Constitutional Revolution
vii- A Phenomenal State of Tranquility
viii - Striking Oil
viii - Striking Abuse
ix - Government Shareholdings
x - Conclusion
Appendices, illustrations, bibliography
About the author
Leonardo Davoudi is a researcher at the Oxford Centre for Global History, University of Oxford, UK. He holds a DPhil from St. Antony’s College. His research interests lie at the intersection of imperialism and capitalism.
Summary
Using newly-uncovered private papers, as well as public and private archives in three countries, this book tells the definitive history of the first discovery of oil in Iran - the first discovery of oil in the Middle East. Exploring the formal and informal dealings of politicians, investors, civil servants and intermediaries Leonardo Davoudi charts the development of Persian petroleum from uncertain beginnings to becoming one of Britain’s largest oil companies with the British government as its principal shareholder. Assessing the relationship between economic and political forces within the British empire and the relationship of foreign economic forces and domestic political forces in Persia, the book also explores the role of intermediation, informal empire, the Anglo-Russian rivalry over Persia, British naval developments and Persian political developments.
Foreword
The story of the first discovery of oil in the Middle East
Additional text
'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.'
