Edward Jay Epstein, who previously exposed the workings of the De Beers cartel in his classic book «The Rise and Fall of Diamonds,» now turns to the crude cartel that dominated the world oil business for the past century. It began with a grouse shoot at Achnacarry castle in which tweed-dressed representatives of all the great oil companies and Rockefeller oil trust secretly carved up the oil resources of the middle east. It ended with OPEC. It is a story of bribery, greed, and power.