Positioning Statement

A pulse-pounding work of narrative intelligence history that exposes the clandestine Allied campaign to strangle Hitler’s war machine at its most vulnerable point: oil. Written by King’s College London–trained War Studies scholar Panagiotis Dimitrakis, Targeting Hitler’s Oil reveals how spies, saboteurs, and underground operatives from Bucharest to Ploesti waged a secret war that shaped the outcome of World War II—proving that the battle for petroleum was every bit as decisive as the battles fought on the front lines. A natural read-alike for readers of Operation Mincemeat, The Spy Who Loved, and The Monuments Men.

Market

Market Opportunity and Audience

•    Read-alike positioning: Comparable to The Spy and the Traitor (Ben Macintyre, ~500,000 copies sold), Operation Mincemeat (Ben Macintyre), and The Saboteur (Paul Kix)—all bestsellers bridging spy thriller narrative with rigorous history

•    Military history is a perennial powerhouse: Military history accounts for approximately 10% of all nonfiction sales; WWII titles alone represent the single largest subcategory, with perennial bestseller lists dominated by titles like Band of Brothers, Unbroken, and Killing Patton. The category generates over $600 million in annual U.S. book revenue

•    Intelligence history surging: Post-Operation Mincemeat (Netflix, 2022) and The Spy Who Loved (BBC, 2023), consumer appetite for WWII espionage is at a multi-decade high; intelligence history is among the fastest-growing military nonfiction subgenres

•    Oil geopolitics: enduring relevance: With ongoing global energy crises, OPEC+ tensions, the Russia-Ukraine war’s impact on European energy supply, and debates over energy security, a book about resource warfare resonates powerfully with current events. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that petroleum remains the world’s largest energy source, supplying ~31% of global energy—underscoring why oil was worth fighting and dying for in 1939–45

•    Romania and Eastern Europe angle: Ploesti’s oil fields supplied roughly 35% of Germany’s petroleum during the war—a fact little known to general audiences. The 1943 Operation Tidal Wave (low-level B-24 bombing raid on Ploesti) remains one of the most decorated single missions in USAAF history, with five Medals of Honor awarded. Yet the covert ground campaign has never received a full popular treatment—a clear gap this book fills

•    Untold story appeal: Readers and reviewers consistently reward books that uncover a hidden chapter of familiar history. Dimitrakis’s scholarly access to primary sources in multiple languages positions this as the authoritative account of a story that deserves the spotlight

•    Gift and holiday market: Military history and WWII titles are among the top gift-book categories for Father’s Day and Christmas; the format and subject matter make this a natural seasonal title

•    Academic and library market: Strong adoption potential in university courses on WWII, intelligence history, and energy geopolitics; library sales bolstered by author’s King’s College London credentials

•    International co-edition potential: Romanian, Greek, German, and UK publishers will find strong natural audiences; the Ploesti raids are legendary in Romanian national memory

Author Credentials

•    Doctorate in War Studies, King’s College London: KCL’s War Studies department is ranked among the top three globally, lending immediate scholarly credibility

•    Expert in intelligence and military history: Dimitrakis has published extensively on intelligence, covert operations, and geopolitical history in the Middle East and Balkans—giving him unique access to archival sources across multiple languages and countries

•    Previous books: Author of Failed Alliances of the Cold War, Military Intelligence in Cyprus, The Secret War in Afghanistan, and Pakistan: The Eagle and the Lion—establishing a track record of rigorous, readable scholarship on covert operations and intelligence history

•    Athens-based perspective: As a Greek national and resident, Dimitrakis brings a Southeastern European lens rarely seen in Anglophone WWII histories, with direct cultural and linguistic ties to the region where much of this story unfolded

•    Media-ready expert: Available for commentary on WWII intelligence history, energy geopolitics, and contemporary parallels to resource warfare—timely given ongoing global energy tensions

Publicity

Print, Broadcast & Major Media

•    Major trade reviewers: Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal, Booklist, Foreword Reviews

•    National newspapers: The New York Times Book Review, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian (UK)

•    Military/history press: Military History magazine, World War II magazine, Historynet.com, The National Interest, War on the Rocks, Task & Purpose, The Strategy Bridge

•    Intelligence/security: Cipher Brief, Lawfare, Politico National Security Daily, Defense One, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs

•    Energy/geopolitics: Foreign Affairs, The Economist, Energy Intelligence, S&P Global Commodity Insights, Oil Price.com, Reuters Energy, Bloomberg Energy

•    General interest: The Atlantic, Smithsonian Magazine, Lapham’s Quarterly, American Heritage, Military Times, The Week

•    International: UK: Times Literary Supplement, The Spectator, BBC History Magazine; Romania: Digi24, Adevarul; Greece: Kathimerini English Edition

•    NPR: Fresh Air, Weekend Edition, All Things Considered, To the Best of Our Knowledge, Here & Now

•    Broadcast: PBS NewsHour, C-SPAN Book TV, History Channel documentary tie-in potential, CNN History specials, National Geographic, Smithsonian Channel

•    Op-ed strategy: Bylined pieces pitched to Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and Foreign Policy on covert resource warfare and its contemporary parallels (Strait of Hormuz, Russian energy weaponization, Venezuelan oil sanctions)

Podcasts

•    Military & WWII History: Hardcore History (Dan Carlin; ~1.5M subscribers), The World War II Podcast, Battleground, History Hit, American History Tellers, Witness History (BBC), We Have Ways of Making You Talk

•    Intelligence & Espionage: SpyCast (International Spy Museum; ~150K subscribers), The Tradecraft Podcast, Intelligence Matters (CBS News/Michael Morell), The Black Vault, Spycast, True Spies (Spyscape)

•    Geopolitics & Energy: The Energy Gang, Geopolitics Decanted, The Eurasia Group Podcast, Jaw-Jaw, World Affairs, Rational Security

•    General History & Narrative Nonfiction: Throughline (NPR), Revisionist History (Malcolm Gladwell), You’re Wrong About, The Rest Is History, Decoder Ring, No Such Thing as a Fish

Social Media & Digital Marketing

Author Platform & Built-In Demand

•    Dimitrakis’s academic publications and prior books have generated citation networks in intelligence studies and military history communities—organic discovery by engaged nonfiction readers

•    King’s College London War Studies alumni and faculty networks: KCL has 35,000+ LinkedIn followers and an active global alumni community; department social channels reach scholars and enthusiasts worldwide

•    Publisher social media: Promote across @stackpolebooks and parent company channels (social reach to be leveraged with military history audience)

Content Marketing Strategy

•    Long-form excerpt placement: Pitch a 2,000–3,000-word adapted excerpt to The Atlantic, Smithsonian Magazine, or Foreign Policy tying the Ploesti sabotage campaign to contemporary energy security

•    Short-form video: Author explainer reels on “Why Hitler Needed Romanian Oil” and “The Most Dangerous Mission of WWII” for YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikTok—optimized for the #BookTok military history community (over 2.1 billion views on #WWII TikTok content)

•    Infographic campaigns: Visual assets showing oil supply chains, sabotage maps of Ploesti, and statistics on fuel consumption by the Wehrmacht—high shareability on Pinterest, Instagram, and Reddit military history communities (r/ww2 has 700,000+ subscribers; r/history has 18M+)

•    Goodreads strategy: Author Q&A, giveaway campaign (500–1,000 digital copies to Goodreads military history lists), and active engagement with WWII shelf communities

•    Email/newsletter outreach: Partner with Historynet.com newsletter (700,000+ subscribers), War on the Rocks mailing list, and The Cipher Brief newsletter (national security community) for sponsored content or editorial placement

•    BookTok and Bookstagram: Target military history BookTok creators with 50K–500K followers; the #WWIIbooks and #militaryhistory communities are underserved but highly engaged. Seed galleys with 10–15 targeted creators