Hardcover. Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1st, 1986, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 190 pages. Explores the world of the North Sea oil installations and describes the life of the men who are engaged in this business. The offshore oil rig represents one of Earth's last frontiers; the ultimate example may be found in the North Sea, 300 miles off the coast of Scotland. What's it like to live in this hostile environment, in unnatural isolation, and to work to the point of exhaustion? Curiosity prompted Alvarez (The Savage God, The Biggest Game in Town to visit the Shell installation at Brent Fields. The people best fitted for offshore work, Alvarez found, are ex-military men. He talked at length to pilots, roustabouts, managers, divers and the chief official of the Shetland Islands. It's an amazing account of humanity triumphing over the elements.
