Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jun 2010
512 pages
Genre: History, Current Affairs and Religion
Publication Information
A groundbreaking, in-depth, and authoritative twenty-year history of the hunt and speculation for our most vital natural resource.
Money, Politics, and Power in the 21st Century
Twenty years ago oil cost about $7 a barrel. In 2008 the price soared to $148 and then fell to below $40. In the midst of this extraordinary volatility, the major oil conglomerates still spent over a trillion dollars in an increasingly frantic search for more.
The story of oil is a story of high stakes and extreme risk. It is the story of the crushing rivalries between men and women exploring for oil five miles beneath the sea, battling for control of the world's biggest corporations, and gambling billions of dollars twenty-four hours every day on oil's prices. It is the story of corporate chieftains in Dallas and London, traders in New York, oil-oligarchs in Moscow, and globe-trotting politicians-all maneuvering for power.
With the world as his canvas, acclaimed investigative reporter Tom Bower gathers unprecedented firsthand information from hundreds of sources to give readers the definitive, untold modern history of oil ... the ultimate story of arrogance, intrigue, and greed.
"[A]n illuminating look at a business whose real workings are more interesting than the mythology surrounding them." - Publishers Weekly
"Investigative journalist Tom Bower has used the same narrative approach as Sampson [The Seven Sisters] and Yergin [The Prize] to bring the industry's story forward from the 1980s to the present day, and his book bears comparison with theirs ... the reader is ushered into a front-row seat, and what follows is often gripping. However fast-paced, Bower cleverly keeps the action in focus ... [he] builds up a brilliant picture ... [and] achieves impressively seamless continuity." - The Times Literary Supplement (UK)
"A roller-coaster account ... [Bower] has a real sense of the drama of deal-making and deal-breaking, of keeping vast corporations afloat in conditions that are rarely stable." - Telegraph (UK)
"Bower gets the big strategic judgments right." - The Sunday Times (UK)
"A gripping and convincing account of the turbulent story of the global oil industry ... the events he covers are scarcely less dramatic than those described in The Prize, including the ascent of the oil price to record highs. Bower's book has the advantage of being scorchingly topical ... provides the fascinating story behind the headlines ... a first-rate account of where the oil industry is now, and some useful pointers as to where it is going." - Financial Times (UK)
This information about Oil was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Tom Bower has a distinguished reputation as an investigative historian, broadcaster and journalist, and is the author of several ground-breaking books about tycoons, politicians, intelligence and post-war Europe.
The Flower Sisters
by Michelle Collins Anderson
From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.
The House on Biscayne Bay
by Chanel Cleeton
As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
