The Prize (the Epic Quest For Oil, Money & Power)

By (author) Daniel Yergin; By (author) Yergin Daniel
Short description/annotation:
Now with a new epilogue, The Prizerecounts the panoramic history of one of the world''s most important resources: oil.
Description:
The definitive work on the subject of oil and a major contribution to understanding our century, The Prize is a book of extraordinary breadth, riveting excitement -- and great importance.

The struggle for wealth and power that has surrounded oil for decades continues to shake the world economy, dictate the outcome of wars, and transform the destiny of men and nations. The Prize is as much a history of the twentieth century as of the oil industry itself. The canvas of this history is enormous -- from the drilling of the first well in Pennsylvania through two great world wars to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and Operation Desert Storm. The cast extends from wildcatters and rogues to oil tycoons, and from Winston Churchill and Ibn Saud to George Bush and Saddam Hussein.
Review quote:
"Spellbinding...irresistible...monumental...must be read to understand the first thing about the role of oil in modern history." 
Review quote:
"A masterly narrative...The Prize portrays the interweaving of national and corporate interests, the conflicts and stratagems, the miscalculations, the follies, and the ironies."
Review quote:
"Splendid and epic history of oil.... The story is brilliantly told...with its remarkable cast of characters."
Review quote:
"Impassioned and riveting...only in the great epics of Homer will readers regularly run into a comparable string of larger-than-life swashbucklers and statesmen, heroes and villains."
Biographical note:
Daniel Yergin is a writer of international renown and president of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, a leading firm on political risk and economic analysis. He is consulted by ministers, politicians, CEOs and investors around the world.