The Prize : The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power

The Prize recounts the panoramic history of oil -- and the struggle for wealth power that has always surrounded oil. This struggle has shaken the world economy, dictated the outcome of wars, and transformed 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. 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.

Amazon.com Review
Daniel Yergin's first prize-winning book, Shattered Peace, was a history of the Cold War. Afterwards the young academic star joined the energy project of the Harvard Business School and wrote the best-seller Energy Future. Following on from there, The Prize, winner of the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction, is a comprehensive history of one of the commodities that powers the world--oil. Founded in the 19th century, the oil industry began producing kerosene for lamps and progressed to gasoline. Huge personal fortunes arose from it, and whole nations sprung out of the power politics of the oil wells. Yergin's fascinating account sweeps from early robber barons like John D. Rockefeller, to the oil crisis of the 1970s, through to the Gulf War.

---

All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

A must-read for everybody, 2008-10-07
The Prize is a feast of a book. It is one of my all time favorites, including novels, biographies and the lot. Daniel Yergin, the author, makes a very exciting plot of the history of the oil business, starting in Pennsylvania in 1859.

The best parts, both analytical and epical, is where he writes about the upstream part of the oil business, ie. exploring, finding and producing crude. The story takes us from Pennsylvania, to Texas, Indonesia, Russia, Venezuela, Mexico, Persia, Kuwait and Saudi-Arabia to Alaska.

Yergins main thesis is that oil became a strategic commodity around 1900. Nations and governments want control over crude, because they are unable to conduct wars without it. Therefore they are willing to go to war to secure oil supplies, and availability of oil determined to a certain extent the outcome of WWII.

The book is also a very good account on general world history between 1859 and 1991. Interesting and fun anecdotes flourish, but Yergin is still keeping the analytical banner high. Fantastic book!


0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Oil and the World, 2008-09-20
Daniel Yergin's well-researched and sourced book provides the oil-based context for much of what happened, happens, and will happen in politics and war. A must read for those who want to understand the world in which they live.


1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Great book, still relevent even today, 2008-09-07
I learned a great deal from this book, from the rise of Standard Oil, it's dissolution, wildcatters, and the rise of the Middle East. I now have a better understanding of the economics of oil. The knowledge this book covers is still applicable today, including Saudi Arabia's continued role in attempting to regulate oil prices, and the risks/rewards of offshore oil drilling, and why too low price of oil is bad (too high is obvious, as we all know with the summer-2008 gasoline prices). It should be required reading for all politicians and also should be read by anyone who voices an opinion (left or right-wing) on energy-related topics.

Highly recommended.


0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Definitive work on oil exploration and exploitation , 2008-09-03
This significant tome is Daniel Yergin's fascinating, 1992 Pulitzer prize-winning account of the personalities, politics, adventures and misadventures behind the evolution of the ruthless global oil business. This authoritative, intelligent and highly entertaining book reports on the past, present and future of the commodity that shapes the world power struggle. Yergin delves knowledgeably into fulcrum events. For example, shortly before World War I, Winston Churchill made the fateful decision to convert British navy's fuel from coal to Iranian oil. This decision set off the modern Western quest for Middle Eastern oil. The world is still feeling its wrenching impact, and Yergin shows how and why. getAbstract finds that this book provides an essential context for understanding today's international conflicts.


0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

A Commuter's Nightmare, 2008-08-09
Kind librarians should consider filing The Prize in the "Reference" section as a clear warning to readers. Yergin's book is a laboriously impressive volume of forgettable details by one of the oil industry's most gifted analysts. It is not a light bedtime or commuter train friend!

- The storyline lacks a cohesive theme
- There are no main characters (including the oil companies!) tying the narrative together
- Personalities appear and dissolve forever in rapid-fire succession, leaving little imprint on the storyline
- The chronology often spirals confusingly in time, digressing into analyses which exhibit all the charm of a workplace memo

Yergin has written an exhaustive business history using the wrong medium. I suggest chopping The Prize up into bite-sized pieces and posting it to a website. There, at least, the disjointed pages would bear no responsibility for drawing the reader forward.

Price is accurate as of the date/time indicated. Prices and product availability are subject to change. Any price displayed on the Amazon website at the time of purchase will govern the sale of this product.