Book description
The sensational human story of the hunt for oil, and the politics,
power and personalities involved.
Over the last 20 years, oil prices have soared from a barrel to 7 and
down to . Amid economic boom and bust, speculators, traders, politicians
and monarchs have plotted to earn fortunes from oil, and prayed for
salvation from unpredictable natural and man-made disasters. Behind the
headlines are 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 prices. Success or failure for all those extraordinary
personalities depends on squeezing their rivals and squeezing the crude
out of the rocks. Overweening vanity and greed absorb those titans whose
ambitions are forging the world's quest for oil.
Exploiting unprecedented close access to the lives of irrepressible
traders in New York, oil-oligarchs in Moscow, corporate chieftains in
Dallas and London, and wily politicians floating in jets across the
globe, Tom Bower presents the untold story of the most important
quandary of our times: why, if there is plentiful oil in the earth, does
mankind face a dire shortage threatening our lives? Self-interest is
propelling the squeeze and there seems to be no salvation. Praise for
Tom Bower:
'As a psychological profile, an exploration of personal ambition and a
study of political obsession driven by religious angst, this biography
is gripping.' Daily Telegraph
'Intensively researched but coolly critical…this remains the most
thorough biography we have.' Independent
'What makes this worth reading is Bower's damning indictment of Brown's
main boast: his supposedly sure stewardship of the economy.' The Times
'A powerful book which poses serious questions.' James Naughtie
'Compulsively readable…essential reading.' Norman Lamont
'Bower gets the big strategic judgements, most admirably in his
scepticism about the fashionable theory known as 'peak oil' Sunday Times
'..there's nobody more diligent than Bower' Dominic Lawson, The Sunday Times
"a shattering critique which will leave…readers angry" The Independent
"a roller-coaster account of the past 30 years of the oil
industry….he has a real sense of the drama of deal-making and
deal-breaking….Bower is particularly entertaining on the vast Russian
oil industry" Daily Telegraph Tom Bower has a distinguished
reputation as an investigative historian, broadcaster and journalist and
is the author of several ground-breaking books about tycoons. His most
recent works are 'Conrad and Lady Black', 'The Squeeze' and his
biographies of Simon Cowell and Bernie Ecclestone. Among his other
much-debated biographies are those of Mohammed Fayed, Richard Branson
and Robert Maxwell.
