Behind the headlines are the crushing rivalries between men and women exploring for oil five miles beneath the sea, battling for control of the world's biggest corporations and gambling billions of dollars twenty-four hours every day on oil prices.

The sensational human story of the hunt for oil, and the politics, power and personalities involved. Over the last 20 years, oil prices have soared from $7 a barrel to $147 and down to $37. Amid economic boom and bust, speculators, traders, politicians and monarchs have plotted to earn fortunes from oil, and prayed for salvation from unpredictable natural and man-made disasters. Exploiting unprecedented close access to the lives of irrepressible traders in New York, Tom Bower presents the untold story of the most important quandary of our times...