"Karl May's German-language novel of the American West has been a perennial favorite in Europe since it first appeared in 1892. The daring adventures of the German-born frontiersman "Old Shatterhand" and his Apache companion "Winnetou" in the western plains and mountains have been reprinted innumerable times, made into films and plays, and have inspired musical compositions. Today in Germany, Old West enthusiasts by the tens of thousands attend an outdoor "Karl May" festival each summer. Yet, despite May's immense popularity in Europe, this prolific author of adventure fiction is virtually...

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. In The Oil Prince (Der Olprinz) May created another multicultural adventure full of excitement, villainy, and courage--sprinkled throughout with a Germanic twinkle of comic relief. Beautifully illustrated, 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...