Oil: A Concise Guide to the Most Important Product on Earth (Paperback)

by Matthew Yeomans (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
A volatile mix of history, politics, economics, science, and foreign and military policy. -- In These Times

A wake-up call. Highly recommended. -- The Washington Post

An informed primer that weaves together commentary, anecdote, and fact. -- Wired

Compelling and provocative…required reading for all who care about the future of this country and the planet as a whole. -- The Nation

Yeomans does a fine job….Surprisingly nuanced. -- Newsday

Product Description
"[A] well-researched, informative book, one of the best on the subject." —The Washington Post

Matthew Yeomans begins his investigation into the role of oil in America by trying to spend a day without oil—only to stumble before exiting the bathroom (petroleum products play a role in shampoo, shaving cream, deodorant, and contact lenses). When Oil was published in cloth, it was quickly recognized as the wittiest and most accessible guide to the product that drives the U.S. economy and undergirds global conflict. The book sparked reviews and editorials across the country from the Wall Street Journal, the Christian Science Monitor, and The Nation to Newsday, the San Francisco Chronicle, Wired and others. Author Michael Klare (Blood and Oil) called it "a clear, comprehensive overview of the U.S. oil industry…in one compact and highly readable volume," and Boldtype praised Yeomans's "crisp journalistic voice….Understanding the business of oil is essential in any modern dialog of power, politics, or the almighty buck, and Yeomans delivers a well-researched and gripping read."

Illustrated with maps and graphics—and now with an all-new afterword—Oil contains a brief history of gasoline, an analysis of the American consumer's love affair with the automobile, and a political anatomy of the global oil industry, including its troubled relationship with oil-rich but democracy-poor countries.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: New Press (January 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159558028X
• ISBN-13: 978-1595580283
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,216,938 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Primer on "The Most Important Product on Earth", May 27, 2009

By	Robert Carlberg (Seattle) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The preface to "Oil" describes the author's thought experiment of what it would be like to go a day without petroleum products. Naturally there would no fuel or lubricants, for cars or any other type of machinery -- but there would also be no plastics (oops, there goes the computer and telephone). There would be no reading glasses or contact lenses. Most of the medicines in his cabinet would be gone. No shampoo, shaving cream or deodorant, and no curtain around his shower. No toothpaste ... or toothbrush. No non-stick cookware, oven-proof glassware or plastic dishes. No waterproof clothing or shoes (unless they have leather soles).

There would be no heat in the winter. No harvesting of crops without machinery, fertilizers or pesticides. Credit and debit cards, being plastic of course, are gone. CDs and DVDs disappear, as well anything to play them on, because there are no electronic circuit boards.

Very quickly you realize why Yeomans calls oil "the most important product on earth" -- it has not only fueled the Industrial Revolution, it *IS* the Industrial Revolution. Without oil, the world very quickly plunges into a wood, iron and stone economy not seen since the Middle Ages.

In Chapter 1 Yeomans gives "a short history of oil," from its discovery as a fuel to the mechanization of its extraction and refinement. How World War I was made more lethal (over 16 million dead!) through tanks and troop carriers. How the Allied powers divided up the oil-producing regions after the war in order to protect their own newfound dependence on the stuff.

One of Yeomans' great talents is revealing the hidden oil-related motives in history. Pearl Harbor was Japan's bid to control Indochinese oil fields. Hitler's expansion was to ensure energy resources. Who has oil, and who controls its production, has truly shaped the 20th Century.

Chapter 2 describes the automobile culture that arose out of cheap gas, with interstate highways, a mobile workforce, and sprawling suburbs. Detroit and the oil giants encouraged excess, and American consumers love their inefficient chrome land yachts.

Chapter 3 describes the machinations that have caused (and are still causing) regime change and political turmoil as oil companies set foreign policy and install businessmen to run the lucrative franchises known as "other nations."

The 4th chapter introduces the concept of "peak oil" and discusses the economics of the end of high-grade light crude in easily-drilled areas.

Chapter 5, entitled "Energy Wars," describes the inevitable results of the major developed and developing nations competing for the rapidly dwindling reserves.

The last three chapters are less timeless, written in 2003-4 and describing the now-familiar Bush Administration policies and mistakes. But they're still extremely clear-headed, factual, concise and irrefutable, and together with the rest of the book paint a very solemn portrait of the legacy we're leaving our children.

A legacy of unsustainable growth built on an artificially-discounted, temporarily-available, non-renewable resource. When it's gone how much of our civilization will survive -- and at what cost?

5.0 out of 5 stars So You Want to Know About Oil..., April 2, 2006

By	Tristero (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews

Over the course of my life I've had limited exposure to knowledge about oil - I see gas prices daily, I occasionally pay attention to news stories that feature oil prominently, and I read the protest banners that exclaim "no blood for oil" (which I always found to be a rather silly slogan). End all be all, I didn't know Jack about oil until I read this book.

The book starts with a history of oil discovery (Chapter 1). Usually such histories are incredibly boring in my opinion, but Yeomans does a great job keeping the reader interested (partially by moving pretty quickly, rather than dwelling on arcane and ultimately irrelevant historical analysis). Chapters 2-7 deal with different policy topics that are predominantly oil oriented: cars in America, human rights and environmental issues in oil exploration, oil prices and scarcity, oil wars, President Bush's association with the oil industry, and CAFE (a piece of emissions standards legislation). The book then ends (Chapter 8) with a brief discussion of hydrogen as an emerging alternative and an afterward on the rising importance of China. From what I know of oil discussions in general, these chapters introduce most of the important elements of the general discussion of oil; reading this book made me feel prepared to discuss oil issues to a moderate degree of depth.

For readers who are already familiar with these discussions about oil, I don't know that reading this book will tell you much more than you already know. Yeomans clearly has a liberal bias on the issue, but he is not quite a doomsayer. For those who do not know much about the politics and cultural aspects of oil, I highly reccomend this book as a short read that will get you up to speed so whenever the topic comes up in conversation or news you can have an informed opinion.