Karl May's works have shaped a uniquely European version of the post-Civil war American West. Rarely out of print since the late 1890s, his beloved novels are a true phenomenon in Europe and have been adapted for the stage, movies, and comic books. Translated from German by Herbert Windolf, this action-packed "travel" tale is set in the late 1860s in Old Arizona where danger abounds and survival is dependent on having the fastest draw and the sharpest wits. In The Oil Prince May created another multicultural adventure full of excitement, villainy, and courage--sprinkled throughout with a Germanic twinkle of comic relief. This Teutonic take on the Wild West features May's revered hero, Old Shatterhand, his Apache blood brother Chief Winnetou, ruthless bandits, Indian tribes on the warpath, a naive band of German immigrants, and a dangerous crook ("the Oil Prince") who intends to con a fortune from a gullible banker. It was first published as a book in the German language in 1897 and is a companion piece to Winnetou, translated by David Koblick and published by the WSU Press in 1999.

Selected as a Best of the Best from the University Presses by the American Association of School Librarians