The Epic of Black Gold

In the past 100 years, oil has affected almost every part of human life in almost every region of the globe. This four-part series sets out to tell the tale of "black gold" in suitably epic detail and scope: from John D. Rockefeller and Henry Ford's Model-T, through both world wars, to the current U.S. engagement in Iraq. As oil-consuming countries sought to control oil-producing countries, social movements turned into revolutions and finally into multiple and ongoing wars. Oil nationalism gave way to conglomerations of international oil companies that determined that energy, not money, was the driving force of the past century. But, if oil reserves peak within the next 3 to 5 years, things are about to change.