The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money Power by Daniel YerginMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Hooter: If Oil was narcissistic and believed it was the centre of the world. Oh wait...
A very well researched 800 pages of the rise of commodity oil and how a lot of geo-political events across the past century and more can be traced to the single quest of oil. Rockefeller, Nobels, Rothschild and so many brand names had a play in this space and Daniel does a wonderful job of keeping the flow interesting in a potentially very dry topic and thesis this could have turned out to be.
The detailed overview of World War I and World War II strategies centred around oil make for interesting perspectives that I wasn't aware of. How the red line defined Middle East politics, the rise of ARAMCO and BAPCO - both household names from my childhood and how the Middle east was pissed that instead of water, this black liquid was popping up. The way commodity oil has changed the world and in current times when oil prices are something households keep track of, this book makes for interesting reading of how oil indeed become the centre of the current world and how petrodollars still speak high volumes of its power.
Heads up! You may need stamina to get through this big book with small print but if the economics of history interest you, this is a good informative read worth the hours poured in.
View all my reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment