The Arabian Link Author:James Warner The Arabian Link is a novel about how the largest oil field in the world was found, and what could happen if a natural disaster struck. The Persian Gulf area, mainly Saudi Arabia, is the prime link between worldwide energy supply and demand. If this supply, or even a modest part of it, were removed, the world would know an economic crisis l... more »ike none in history. Some two/thirds of the world's available oil lies within three hundred miles of the Persian Gulf. How was Ghawar, by far the world's largest oil field, found? How could it have ever been thought that such a mammoth field would lie only a little over a mile below rocky plains and shifting sands in what was in the thirties a "backward," or "undeveloped" land? What if natural disaster struck? How could it strike? The Arabian Link takes a fictitious East Texas geologist, JJ Burke, from West Texas in 1934 to Saudi Arabia to join in the search for oil in remote deserts. It describes his journeys, friends, loves, cultural encounters, and most of all, their hardships and excitement that led to unbelievably major discovery! The second part of the novel describes the development and occurrence of disaster, its causes and effects, along with the efforts of JJ's son, Jon Burke, and his Saudi friends, to comprehend and work to solve massive problems that produce widespread personal economic and physical suffering, exacerbated by political blundering. This is a story of supreme challenges, tender loves, ingenuity, triumphs, and coping.« less