- Author
- Book reviewer
- Subjects
- History - WW1, Book reviews
- Tags
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- RAN Ships
- None noted.
- Publication
- June 2023 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
Love, Oil and the Fortunes of War is a fictionalised history by Sydney-based author Paul Ashford Harris. Published by Ventura Press in 2023, a paperback edition of 288 pages and available at good booksellers for about $30.
A well-researched and fascinating read, featuring three widely different and powerful personalities.
Jacky Fisher, a British Admiral who seems to have been much smarter that his fellow admirals and who transformed the Royal Navy – a ‘demented’ and ‘obsessive nautical genius’ who was an expert in torpedoes. With World War I imminent the navy, the largest in the world, was under serious threat. In the face of determined resistance, Fisher switched the fleet from coal to oil fuel and to a new style of warfare using submarines and aircraft.
William D’Arcy, who emigrated to Rockhampton in 1865 as a teenager and became a businessman with a shady history. He made his first fortune by investing in the Mount Morgan mineral deposit near Rockhampton and then a second fortune when he helped found the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, which would later become BP.
Gertrude Bell, a brilliant but eccentric English archaeologist and a supporter of women’s rights, had a unique knowledge of the Middle East, as well as the languages and customs. She was intrepid, Oxford-educated, a writer and policymaker who facilitated talks between the British government and Baghdad, conversations that led to the orientalist partitioning of Iraq in 1920. She explored Persia and achieved an amazing rapport with the many disparate societies, all male dominated. She was fluent in many of the languages, knowledgeable about the customs and rituals necessary to move freely in the area and developed influential friendships.
Gertrude Bell and Jacky Fisher had a healthy disdain for the rigidly stratified English society of the time, where William D’Arcy wanted nothing more than to be accepted at the highest level.
The interactions of these extraordinary personalities shine a light on one of the most dramatic periods of the twentieth century.
Paul Ashford Harris traces their lives separately for much of the novel’s first half: Bell’s upbringing in England, Fisher’s Navy training and D’Arcy’s first years in central Queensland. ‘Writing the book came from my fascination with a seemingly unknown story which arguably had a strong influence on the outcome of WWI,’ Harris said. ‘The book is not supposed to be a factual account; the conversations are of course not true. Nevertheless, it does shine a light on a dramatic period.’
From Persia to London to Far North Queensland and Gallipoli, the three heroes are surrounded by a host of famous (and infamous) characters, from Winston Churchill and T. E. Lawrence, to the new King Edward VII and the Kaiser and many more. Luckily, fate is ready to play its part. So when the lives of these three very different characters converge, the course of World War I – and history – are transformed. Jacky Fisher was able to convince important decision makers about the necessity to convert the navy to oil fuel but the problem was finding a source. Standard Oil (US) and Shell (Dutch) were regarded as unsuitable suppliers.
In the meantime, D’Arcy was proceeding with an agreement which would give him access to ‘a vast underground lake’ of high-grade Persian oil on very favourable terms. Gertrude Bell was able to give D’Arcy valuable advice, particularly warning him about any signs of condescension or superiority in his negotiations.
Then a fortuitous meeting between Fisher and D’Arcy was the precursor to the solution of the source of oil, and which resulted in the transformation of the navy, arguably resulting in victory in World War I.
Love, Oil and the Fortunes of War is a rollicking tale of adventure, colourful characters and exotic locations.
Reviewed by Doris Shearman