Synopses & Reviews
David vs. Goliath in the oil patchAt Trickle Creek in northern Alberta, Wiebo Ludwig hoped to insulate his religious community from “the madness” of modern life, but in 1990 civilization came calling. An oil company proposed to drill directly in view of the farm’s communal dining room. When the company accidentally vented raw sour gas, Ludwig’s livestock died. Four women miscarried at the farm. Over time, nearby parcels of land were clearcut. A pipeline company ripped up Ludwig’s northern boundary. Seismic crews raced up and down his road. More sour gas wells popped up. A man defending his property rights – ignored by a government working hand-in-hand with the oil and gas industry – turned to sabotage. Wiebo Ludwig’s war began with nails on the roads, vandalized well sites, and road blockades. It ended with bombings and the death of a joyriding teenager. Throughout a two-year campaign that cost the industry more than $10 million in damages, Ludwig defended the mayhem but never claimed to be its author.
This taut, careful work of nonfiction reads like a thriller and raises unsettling questions about individual rights, corporate power, police methods, and government accountability. The reader comes to question whether Ludwig can be dismissed as a religious wacko. And to ask: What would I have done in his shoes? Ludwig got 18 months in prison. The locals want justice for the unsolved murder of the young woman. Many say Ludwig must leave northern Alberta or die. He’ll be released from prison this fall, about the time Saboteurs is published.
From the Hardcover edition.
About the Author
Andrew Nikiforuk's work as a journalist - for such magazines as
Saturday Night,
Maclean's,
Canadian Business,
Report on Business Magazine,
Georgia Straight, and
Equinox - has earned him four National Magazine Awards, the Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy, and top honors from the Association of Canadian Journalists. His best-selling book
School's Out: The Catastrophe in Public Education and What Parents Can Do About It was shortlisted for the Gordon Montador Award for writing on issues of key social interest. He lives with his wife and three sons in Calgary.
From the Hardcover edition.