Admittedly, I came to this having seen There Will Be Blood, so I don't think that my expectations were exactly matched with what I read.

That said, Sinclair's book goes into a lot more detail about both the period covered, the oil business in general, and the clashes between workers and bosses.

The writing style is occasionally very laboured, and it reads a little like a "Become A Red And Save The World!" primer - but there is a sense of protection that one gathers for the lead characters as the novel progresses.

Sure, this could be a little more brief, but as a period epic - and that's pretty much what this is - it's a reasonable read.