Customer Reviews

The Seven Sisters: The Great Oil Companies and The World They Shaped

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This was a highly interesting book. The title,the Seven Sisters refers to the seven oil companies who dominate the world petroleum marker. This book gives a history of each of the seven sisters(such as Exxon and Shell). This book also tells of the shaping of the world of oil as we know it today. The Seven Sisters also tells of events that have occurred that have had bearing on the world of petroleum. All in all I found this to be a very in formative book that made for informative reading. You will not be dissapointed if you purchase it.

This book tracks the development of the major oil companies of the 20th century and their efforts to ensure adequate supplies, pacify oil producing governments, all the while turning a profit. The behind-the-scenes story of the turbulent oil business will fascinate anyone who lived through the oil crisis of the 1970's. Get ready for higher gas prices this summer!

Forget the more famous "history" of the oil industry "the Prize" this book is the actual history and it remains as relevant in modern times (I write this in 2008 months after the Russia/Georgia conflict and as the global financial crisis unfolds) as it was when first written in the mid-1970s, another period of great turmoil in world energy prices and global economic upheaval.

Ask anyone who lived through the oil industry in the past two to three decades if this is an accurate, let alone well written book they will answer in the affirmative. You will not get that universal endorsement of other accounts. What makes the big difference is that Sampson took the trouble to get inside the story and meet and understand what made the great oil leaders tick, why governments did what they did and what the geopolitical implications were.

If you want to know what really happened in the great battles and achievements of the past and get a strong insight into our own times of resource nationalism and rise and rise of national oil companies, you need to include this perspective in your reading (and re-reading).

I enjoyed reading "The Seven Sisters". I majored in economics in college. This book to be understood at a deeper level requires a strong understanding of economics. It has been a while since I studied economics so I am somewhat rusty on the concepts but recognize the issues that the author does not delve into. It might be useful to incorporate this book into an advanced college course in economics.