Blood and Oil in the Orient

"Blood and Oil in the Orient" (1930) was the first book published by Essad Bey, alter-ego of Lev Nussimbaum, who thus became a bestselling author in 1930s Germany.

It concerns the political history of Azerbaijan in the early 20th century and, in particular, the escape of Lev and his father across Central Asia, fleeing the Bolshevik take-over in Baku. Although the history is generally factual, the author makes more than a few autobiographical embellishments. For example, Essad writes as though he had already assumed his acquired Muslim identity and his father were a Muslim nobleman. Lev Nussimbaum's father, Abraham, was a Jew born at Tiflis, Georgia, in 1875.

Initial reviews were mostly favorable, although the work did stir up some politically-motivated controversy about a "Jewish forger."

Plot synopsis

The book opens with a short story on how the parents of Essad Bey met - his father being described as a young Azerbaijani oil merchant and his mother - an imprisoned Bolshevik revolutionary.

Essad gives insight into the life of the oil city of Baku of his childhood, writes about the importance of oil in lives of every citizen of Baku and about the horrendous circumstances of the workers in the oil fields. Through the relatively peaceful early times of World War I Essad Bey guides the reader to Muslim-Armenian blood-baths after the October Revolution in Russia, which forced Essad and his father to leave Azerbaijan for Turkestan and Iran. When the Bolsheviks are forced out of Azerbaijan, Essad and his father return home, but just a few years later communists take over Azerbaijan again and Essad and his father flee again.

The narrative of his own travels is extended with description of significant events in the region around Azerbaijan in the years of the author's your and descriptions of habits and traditions of various tribes living in Azerbaijan, Turkestan, Iran and Georgia.