About this title: Written by the author of "Shattered Peace" and "Energy Future", this book brings to life the tycoons, wildcatters, monopolists, regulators, presidents, generals and sheiks whose struggle for oil has shaken the world economy, dictated the outcome of wars, transformed the destiny of Britain and the world and profoundly changed all our lives. ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
Date Published: 1993
ISBN-13:9780671711894ISBN:067171189X
Description: Good. Our aim is to create value for our customers through the provision of low cost, affordable products and an overall satisfying buying experience. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
Date Published: 1993
ISBN-13:9780671711894ISBN:067171189X
Description: Good. Spine-Slightly worn in accordance with age and use. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
Date Published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780671710897ISBN:0671710893
Description: Good. Our aim is to create value for our customers through the provision of low cost, affordable products and an overall satisfying buying experience. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
Date Published: 1993
ISBN-13:9780671711894ISBN:067171189X
Description: Paperback, ex-library, with usual stamps and markings, in fair all round condition suitable as a reading copy. pp., 750grams, ISBN: 067171189X. read more
Description: Very Good. } Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Pocket Books, New York :: London
Date Published: 1993
ISBN-13:9780671711894ISBN:067171189X
Description: Good. 885,xxxiip.,[16]p. of plates : ill., maps,ports. ; 20 cm. Includes: illustrations, maps, portraits. Originally published: Simon & Schuster, 1991. Bibliography: p856-881. - Includes index. read more
Description: Acceptable. May have wear or tear to spine, edges and or cover. Creases in spine. Bent/rounded corners. May have highlighting/notes. read more
Description: Acceptable. Book is in good reading condition. Cover has wear at edges and corners. Spine has wear at edges. Dust jacket included, and has light wear at edges. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780671502485ISBN:0671502484
Description: Acceptable. Dust jacket has some wear. There is a stain on the first page, the blank page, of the book. The rest of the pages are in great condition. read more
Description: Good. 0671799320 Paperback, Condition: Good; somewhat worn, with some underlining/highlightling within; will work well as a reading copy. read more
"I'd give it five because it is an awesome book were it not for the length. This is the Hawaaiian Ironman Triathlon of books. It is a porject, but when you're done you'll never look at oil and the meticulously intertwined web it weaves through the politics, economy, and social fabric of our societies."
"Oil is the thread connecting 130 years of global history through such characters as John D. Rockefeller, Harry Sinclair, Winston Churchill, King Faisal, Warren G. Harding, T.E. Lawrence and many more. Our oil addiction stemmed from the discovery of oil "seep fields" (think of teh Beverly Hillbillilies "bubblin' crude") in Western Pa.
The original oil boom sought to exploit kerosene as an improvement over whale oil burning in lamps. Oil fever waxed and waned until the commercialization of internal combustion, which transformed the US in a mere decade and is still transforming the world.
The story of oil is the story of huge historical themes and events: the rise and fall and rise of monopolies in the U.S.; the Bolshevik revolution; and the colonization of "protectorates" in Mesopotamia to create states like Iraq.
Oil was the lynchpin resource of both World Wars. In WWII the Allies destroyed Rumanian oilfields in a race against time against marching Germans and Turks.
In a lesser-known variation on the Miracle of Dunkirk, the French discovered the utility of internal combustion when the military drafted thousands of Parisian cab drivers to transport troops to the front against marching Germans. Without this improvised troop movements (and yes the cabbies were encouraged to run their meters), the Germans could have easily taken the capital and possibly ended the war with a different result.
Suddenly cavalry was "out." Tanks (a code name that stuck) were invented to break the gridlock imposed by trench warfare. Internal combustion also fueled dogfights in the sky. In months airplanes went from unreliable toys to 150 mph fighting machines, which were made obsolete by a new generation of war planes in only another six months.
In WWII we outproduced the Axis as much as defeated them.
Yergin set out to depict a fascinating historical sweep through an oil-filled prism. He is partially successful. He vividly recreates characters like Rockefeller, Teddy Roosevelt, and Marcus Samuel, the founder of Shell Oil who got his start selling curios and souvenirs covered in glued-on sea shells and also became Mayor of London.
But the journey feels more episodic than sweeping as this very looonnnggg book is splintered into two- and three-page chapters, almost each commandeered by a new Superhero/Master of the Business or Political Universe. He also over-focuses on the business dealings of Big Oil, sometimes to the point of tedium but often to the exclusion of the social side of the story, such as: What was really happening in Mesopotamia while the region was being pawned between England and France? Oddly Yergin's chapter on the rise of the drive-through gas station is more compelling than his re-creation of this "Great Game" between superpowers.
Still there is much fascinating between these pages and I will soldier on through completion--I'm up to about 1928, or page 224."
"Yergin provides an incredible look at the history of the world's most important commodity. If you want to understand the state of the world economy, geopolitics and the direction our society is headed, this is probably the best place to start. It's a mammoth, over 1000 pages, but absoluely fascinating. And for the lazy non-readers out there, you can probably get the PBS version on Netflix."
"A must read for anyone interested in politics, business or history. The book is long and and detailed. However, there are smaller stories in the longer history of oil. A good lesson in market economics, if oil prices get to high history shows a big correction is around the corner."
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