Description
“Most travel books I’ve read bored me, but never a Karl May book.”—Albert Einstein
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 (Der Ölprinz) 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. Rarely out of print since it was first published as a book in the German language in 1897, The Oil Prince is a companion piece to Winnetou, translated by David Koblick and published by the WSU Press in 1999.
Set in late-1860s Arizona, this action-packed “travel” tale once again features Old Shatterhand and his Apache blood brother Winnetou, along with ruthless bandits, Indians on the warpath, a naïve band of German immigrants, and perilous crook (the “Oil Prince”), who attempts to con a fortune from a gullible banker.
For nearly a century, Karl May, the most-read German author of all time, enflamed the imagination of European audiences with his action-packed “travel” tales of the American West.
Translated from German by Herbert Windolf, this volume continues the exploits of Old Shatterhand, an incomparable German-born frontiersman, his noble apache blood brother, Chief Winnetou, and their frontier friends. The story is set in the late 1860s in Old Arizona where danger abounds and where survival is dependent on having the fastest draw and the sharpest wits. Ruthless villains, Indian tribes on the warpath, and a naive band of German immigrants all figure into this engaging Teutonic saga of the Wild West.
Karl May’s beloved novels have shaped a uniquely European version of the post-Civil War American West and have been rewritten for the stage, movies and even comic books. Rarely out of print since it was first published as a book in the German language in 1897, The Oil Prince is a companion piece to Winnetou, May’s original book in his series featuring Old Shatterhand and Winnetou. Winnetou was translated by David Koblick and published by the WSU Press in 1999.
Illustrations / 368 pages (2003)
