"In his scholarly but impassioned book, Matthieu Auzanneau provides a wide-ranging account of the effect oil has had on the minutiae of daily life and the grandest geopolitical narratives.Geographical
Beautifully written andmarvelously translated, Oil, Power, and War providesa detailedhistory of oils impact on economic and technical advancesand, in turn, their impact on oilover the past century. Extending its narrative through the events of early 2018, it offers a profound new understanding of oils role in war and peace, growth andstagnation; and it casts new light on the foundations of national power and thechallenge that lies ahead. A terrific education and an engrossing read.Dennis Meadows, coauthor of The Limits to Growth
The definitive history of the rise and eventual fall of oil, brilliantly told. Auzanneau illuminates the history of our time drivenby cheap oil and the persistent search for more at all costs.Insightful, authoritative, and essential reading. A dazzling and wise book.David Orr, author of Dangerous Years; Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics, Oberlin College
Matthieu Auzanneaus ambitious new history of oil is a must read for anyone intrigued by the instrumental role of energy in the ebb and flow of modern civilization. This is a richly documented and beautifully written book, which tells a story that has not been fully tolduntil now. Auzanneau masterfully reveals the vast extent to which the arteries of todays politics, economics, and culture have been indelibly shaped by the riseand declineof the worlds most abundant fossil fuel. In years to come, historians will refer back to Auzanneaus work as a definitive guide to the real role of oil in some of the most pivotal events in world history.Nafeez Ahmed, editor of INSURGE intelligence; visiting research fellow at the Global Sustainability Institute at Anglia Ruskin University
Auzanneaus Oil, Power, and War is a fascinating and excellent book. It sets out in detail the extraordinary story of oils discovery, production, pricing, and control, and throws light on the fears, misapprehensions, power plays, and conflicts that our addiction to this cheap and flexible form of energy has engendered. Auzanneau is particularly good at explaining the importance of oil in the sustenance of modern society, and therefore why the coming constraint to the global oil supplycaused by the current resource-limited plateau (and soon decline) in the global production of conventional oilis likely to be so difficult. Hopefully lessons learned from our past mistakes, laid out so well in this book, can help guide us through the oil challenges that lie ahead.R. W. Bentley, editor of The Oil Age; author of Introduction to Peak Oil
Matthieu Auzanneaus book is a must for anyone who wants to understand the modern world. Our consumer society is based on cheap energy. Thus if you want to know the sources of the worlds current wealth and how our economy is likely to evolve in the future, you must study the history of world oil since 1859. This book tells that story more fully, fairly, accurately, and entertainingly than any other to date. Indeed, previous accounts of the history of oil are now effectively obsolete.Jean Laherrere, petroleum engineer; president of ASPO France
An absolutely great book, and a nearly unbelievable summary of the history of oil. But this is not just the story of oil, it is also the story of humankind during the past two centuries or so, and it shows how almost everything that happened during those centuries links back to oil. Auzanneau presents a treasure trove of information not available anywhere elseat least not in a well-organized and critical form, as most books written on this subject are sponsored or supported, one way or another, by the fossil-fuel industry. Did you know that Mussolini was lured into his disastrous Ethiopian campaign by hopes of finding oil there? Did you know that the British won the Battle of Britain partly because the fuel of their Spitfires had a higher octane number than that of the German Messerschmitts? Did you know that the Marshall Plan to rebuild the European economies was based on the idea of replacing Europes dependence on American oil with a dependence on US-controlled Middle East oil? Theres all this and much more in Oil, Power, and War, and the story of oil and humankind is not yet concluded. In the future it will be mostly about getting rid of oil before oil gets rid of us.Ugo Bardi, author of Extracted