Alan Cockrell, a retired commercial airline pilot, previously worked as a certified petroleum geologist in the Gulf Coast oil industry for twelve years. He is author of the nonfiction Tail of the Storm and a novel, The Restless Earth. His essays and stories have appeared in AOPA Pilot, Airline Pilot, Hemispheres, On Guard, Aviation History, and the Huntsville Times.

Drilling Ahead is a highly accessible, often colorful, account of oil exploration and development in Mississippi, Alabama, and northwest Florida, in the post-World War II period." - Evan R. Ward, The Journal of Southern History"Drilling Ahead is a valuable addition to the history of the petroleum industry." - Diana Davids Hinton Technology and Culture"This book is extremely informative and well researched. It also tells about the colorful characters who developed much of the oil and gas industry in the Southeast, especially Mississippi and Alabama. Chesley Pruet would be the most intriguing character of all, and he was well respected. In addition, this is a good read." - Robert Mosbacher, Mosbacher Energy, Inc. Secretary of Commerce, 1989-1992"Alan Cockrell has captured the excitement of oil booms in the southeastern states which flourished during the last half of the twentieth century. A valuable history is preserved of key individuals and companies that drilled the hundreds of oil and gas wells in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida to bring new wealth to these states." - Dudley J. Hughes, author of Oil in the Deep South: A History of the Oil Business in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, 1859-1945

Alan Cockrell, a retired commercial airline pilot, previously worked as a certified petroleum geologist in the Gulf Coast oil industry for twelve years. He is author of the nonfiction Tail of the Storm and a novel, The Restless Earth. His essays and stories have appeared in AOPA Pilot, Airline Pilot, Hemispheres, On Guard, Aviation History, and the Huntsville Times.

Drilling Ahead is a highly accessible, often colorful, account of oil exploration and development in Mississippi, Alabama, and northwest Florida, in the post-World War II period." - Evan R. Ward, The Journal of Southern History"Drilling Ahead is a valuable addition to the history of the petroleum industry." - Diana Davids Hinton Technology and Culture"This book is extremely informative and well researched. It also tells about the colorful characters who developed much of the oil and gas industry in the Southeast, especially Mississippi and Alabama. Chesley Pruet would be the most intriguing character of all, and he was well respected. In addition, this is a good read." - Robert Mosbacher, Mosbacher Energy, Inc. Secretary of Commerce, 1989-1992"Alan Cockrell has captured the excitement of oil booms in the southeastern states which flourished during the last half of the twentieth century. A valuable history is preserved of key individuals and companies that drilled the hundreds of oil and gas wells in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida to bring new wealth to these states." - Dudley J. Hughes, author of Oil in the Deep South: A History of the Oil Business in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, 1859-1945