His prose is readable and compelling, and his commentary damning of both Nigerian and Western behaviours. He makes an effort to highlight the complexities and legacies that contribute to the hideous state of the Niger Delta. It is a place of utter poverty and despair, yet its people maintain an optimism in the future through a finely honed skill of survival that makes one feel humbled and privileged - and complicit. Peel does a very good job of showing the financial ties that enmesh the oil delta, global financial institutions and the rampant corruption of Nigerians and Westerners alike. In reading it, one wonders whether the century of resource exploitation and corruption can ever be righted - in Lagos, the Delta, London and Washington DC. A valuable read for anyone interested in the geopolitics of oil.(less)