Blood and Oil in the Orient[1] was the first book written by Essad Bey, penname for Lev Nussimbaum (1905–42). The book was first published in 1929 when Essad Bey was only 24 years old. During the following eight years (1929–36), 16 books were published under his name.[2]

Blood and Oil in the Orient, which Essad Bey claimed was an autobiography, concerns the political history of Azerbaijan in the early 20th century. It includes the escape of Lev and his father from Baku across the Caspian Sea to Turkestan and Iran during 1918 when massacres were taking place in Baku. It concludes with father and son fleeing the Bolshevik takeover of Baku in 1920 via Tiflis and Batumi, Georgia, across the Black Sea to Istanbul. Lev Nussimbaum was only 14 years old when he fled Azerbaijan.

Prominent Azerbaijani and Georgian historians discredit the book from historical, geographical and ethnographical points of view, and thus they insist that, despite Essad Bey's claims, it cannot be relied upon as autobiographical.[3][4]

Initial reviews from the Caucasian emigres, who had fled the Bolsheviks and settled in Germany, were caustic. For example, G. Yashke wrote: "The only real aim of this book is to make money by creating a work - the product of a spiteful fantasy - that will delight undiscerning readers who seek sensationalism. The book spreads lies and slander about various nations, distorts historical events in a dishonest way, spreads miserable propaganda that assists the enemies of Azerbaijan and the Caucasus, and falsifies the descriptions of events relating to the recent past."[5] The Germans were so livid about Essad Bey's claims about their activities in Baku that they carried out an investigation into his background in 1930.

Critiques in English by those who knew the region well were also devastating. One critic concluded: "One might, however, write a good-sized book to point out the improbabilities and misunderstandings to which the author has given currency.... But the present reviewer would not willingly waste any more ink or paper in rescuing such a story from deserved oblivion."[6]

Plot synopsis

The book opens with a short description about how the author's parents had met at Bayil Prison in the suburbs of Baku. Essad Bey's father was described as a young Azerbaijani oil entrepreneur and his mother, an imprisoned Bolshevik revolutionary. As the story goes, Essad Bey's father just happened to be strolling along in the shade of the prison on a hot sunny afternoon when he chanced upon a woman looking out from between the bars of the prison.

At first sight, he determined to take her home to be his wife. After threatening and bribing the guards, he achieved her release and took her home that very day after dismissing his harem. However the marriage certificate for Lev Nussimbaum's parents has been found in Tbilisi, Georgia.[7] The couple Abram Leybusovich Nusimbaum (citizen of Tiflis) and Basya Davidovna Slutzkin (from Belarus) were married on October 26, 1904, in the Tiflis Synagogue.[8] And thus, began the first of many sensational tales that may make for "good reading" but which absolutely are not true, that Essad Bey would write during his literary career which spanned slightly more than a decade from about 1926 to 1937.

References

  1. ↑ "Oel und Blut im Orient" (Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1929).
  2. ↑ "Was Essad Bey Too Prolific?" Archived 2011-06-29 at the Wayback Machine in Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4 (2011), pp. 162-163.
  3. ↑ Historian Dr. Zaza Aleksidze of the Georgia Centre of Manuscripts in Tbilisi: "Blood and Oil in the Orient is a fiction, full of tales and mistakes, and no one should rely upon it as a source for reconstructing the biography of Essad Bey," published in "Fact or Fiction? What Essad Bey's Contemporaries Said," in Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4 (2011), p. 169.
  4. ↑ Historian Dr. Farid Alakbarli of the Institute of Manuscripts, Baku: "Not only are the facts about the history and traditions in Azerbaijan distorted, but Georgian and Turkoman descriptions are wrong as well.... Correcting all of Essad Bey's errors in 'Blood and Oil' would be an endless job." "Too Many Errors to Correct," in "Critics," Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4 (2011), p. 169.
  5. ↑ G. Yashke, "Germany and Azerbaijan," in Kurtulush 7-8 (1935), pp. 213-217.
  6. ↑ ATW, "Figments for Facts" in The Near East and India (June 4, 1931), p. 639.
  7. ↑ Georgian Central State Historical Archives, Nusenbaum Marriage Registration, No. 675 (1904), p. 10.
  8. ↑ National Archives, Tbilisi, Georgia. The marriage certificate indicates that the marriage was conducted by Rabbi Levin and it indicates that this was a first marriage for both of them; in other words, there was no harem to dismiss as Essad Bey fantasizes.

• "Who wrote Azerbaijan's Most Famous Novel - Ali and Nino?" in Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4 (2011). Available in English and Azeri, 364 pages. Visit AZER.com.
• "Fact or Fiction? What Essad Bey's Contemporaries Said," in Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4 (2011), pp. 166–179.
• "Frequently Asked Questions about the Authorship of Ali and Nino," in Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2-4 (2011), pp. 52–137. This article includes 158 Questions and 543 Endnotes.

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