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David Strahan

The Last Oil Shock: A Survival Guide to the Imminent Extinction of Petroleum Man (UK Paperback) Strahan Paperback

by David Strahan (Author)

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James D Henry

Ho, hum.

Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2013

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The book has some good info and is written passably well. DS's assessment of alternatives to crude oil are brutally frank and well documented. The latter chapters about how to prepare for the days of expensive oil products are trite almost to the point of being dull-wittedly unrealistic. We shall see a great many more books of this ilk in the next couple of decades.

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Informative, Insightful, and Entertaining

Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2008

The Last Oil Shock is an excellent book. David Strahan has written an informative, insightful and, yes, even entertaining book that delves into the history and causes of Peak Oil, the various "cures" put forward by oil companies and others in Big Energy and Big Politics, and the likely ramifications of both Peak Oil and its alleged--should I say "threatened"?--cures.

The book has a slight UK-centric approach which is a refreshing change from the USA-centric perspective of most other books on the subject. American readers should not be deterred. There's just enough of the British situational viewpoint to understand how universal the problem is, and the uniqueness of the various flavors that energy depletion offers from country to country.

Strahan is first of all a superb journalist. He is objective in his facts, backs up his statements, and offers both breadth and depth in his account of Peak Oil. But Strahan also has a position; one which enhances, rather than obscures, his objectivity. His wry, even biting, sense of humor and his observation of the energy predicament's ironies and, alas, frequent hypocrisies, come through in a manner that allows his facts to be enjoyable digested all the way through the book.

I highly recommend reading The Last Oil Shock.

Mick Winter is the host of DryDipstick.com and the author of Peak Oil Prep: Prepare for Peak Oil, Climate Change and Economic Collapse

2 people found this helpful

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Marcus Crowley

Shakes you up and makes you want to do something good for the planet

Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2007

This book is a serious read. The first chapter or so looks at oil as the rationale for the war in Iraq. Seems like good investigative reporting by the author who seems to know a lot more than most politicians about a really important and worrying issue.

The majority of the book is spent explaining - in some statistical detail - the fact that the world's oil production will start to fall inexorably within the next decade or so. The last part of the book was more digestible but alarming, talking about the consequences and necessary / probable solutions to the oil fields running dry.

I'd recommend this book as a good follow up to "The Weather Makers" which explains the dangers of global warming and focusses on coal rather than oil.

It looks like we are all in for some big changes ahead, and those of us that have read up on these issues are going to be able to help save the planet, or at least cope better than most.

6 people found this helpful

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David Reed

An absolute must for the intelligent reader

Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2007

I did this review for a New Zealand newspaper, but it applies worldwide.

We all know it is coming, don't we? Petrol prices escalating, Maui fields producing less and less, Government trying to fire up a coal-fired power plant at Marsden Point to substitute for increasingly expensive oil, Australia going to nuclear-based power generation - obvious, isn't it? This exceptionally informative book will explain why this is happening and what to expect in the future.

Mr. Strahan is a British investigate journalist who has undertaken the task of becoming extremely well-informed about what is referred to as "peak oil" - the point at which oil and gas recovery reaches a maximum and then goes into irreversible decline. This is no breathless "conspiracy book" but a factual resume by an author who has that unusual knack of making the complex easier to understand. His massive bibliography of source material goes on for 25 pages, so those want to debate his facts can easily find the source. This is not an opinionated book but one crammed with objective information and intelligent analysis.

Mr. Strahan starts out with the science of petroleum exploration then continues with a fascinating history of how information is gathered about present supplies and future reserves. He adds detail as to how governments and oil companies have reacted to what should be obvious, discusses the ramifications of international politics and oil depletion, then finishes with a critique of the hard-core realities of substituting various other sources for power generation as petroleum products inevitably run dry.

One can argue climate change, its causes, and possible solutions, but there is no argument here - oil recovery has hit "peak" in most areas and is declining everywhere but the Mideast, and even here the reserve figures may be deliberately overrated. Please buy this book - educated people simply must understand the full dynamics of this apparently insoluble problem.

10 people found this helpful

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acerbas

Important book

Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2007

For once the blurb is accurate. This is the best of the spate of books on Peak Oil. Ignore it at your peril.

However, the version through the Amazon reseller is much too expensive. You can purchase it for less from Amazon Canada, where the book was published.

7 people found this helpful

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Pierluigi Vernetto

a masterpiece of journalism

Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2007

The author has invested an incredible amount of energies to interview some key people in the oil industry, and to unveil the evidence of world oil depletion. Probably the best documented books on this topic I have ever read.

2 people found this helpful

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Digital Pigeon

Disappointing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 10, 2015

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First and foremost – this book fails to live up to its subtitle of being a Survival Guide to the Imminent Extinction of Petroleum Man. In fact, there is barely any mention of what the post-oil world might look like and how people’s lives are likely to change. A better subtitle would be “The current state of the oil industry”.

About 75% of the book can be summed up in the single sentence “the oil is running out”. It’s well researched if quite preachy, but there are only so many different ways you can say the same thing without the message getting really dull and repetitive. He regularly gets on his soapbox about western governments and even spends an entire chapter childishly attacking a former Minister for looking at him the wrong way once.

The other 25%, on the other hand, is quite good – There’s a chapter dedicated to evaluating the effectiveness of renewable energy sources and another which briefly considers alternatives to hydrocarbon based materials. These are similarly well researched and clearly explained. Towards the end of the book he considers actions which governments could take to mitigate the oil peak and then offers advice to individuals about how to reduce your dependency on oil.

In summary – Consists mostly of variations on the same rant, but it does have some interesting and redeeming material. If you like preachy, anti-establishment books then you’ll probably like this. If you want to know how the oil peak will affect your life then this is not the book for you.

Dead Celeb

Unsettling, yet essential reading

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 23, 2010

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This is the first book I have read on 'peak oil', and I chose it because unlike many of the others written on the subject, it has a UK rather than US bias.

I found the book covers some complex areas in a very accessible way, I wouldn't normally read about subjects like geology, the technical aspects of oil production and financial markets, but the way they are presented here is pretty involving.

I found myself reading the book and thinking 'My God...if this is true we are all in DEEP trouble...' I don't want to believe that peak oil is a serious problem, but the author makes a pretty convincing case. With the converging issues of peak oil and climate change, the 21st century could well make the 20th look like a tea party.

And just to add my weight to the other reviews, I agree that having spent most of the book telling us that the oil will run short sooner rather than later and that there is nothing to effectively replace it, the last few pages suggesting that you can mitigate all this by using energy saving light bulbs and driving a more fuel efficient car feels like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Other than this, great book. I devoured it in much the same way that we are consuming the remaining oil. Quickly.

Chris

Very good book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 28, 2013

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Excellent read. Very interesting analysis of the geological economic and political conditions surrounding peak oil. Word limits on reviews are silly.

Sal

A thought for the future.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 20, 2007

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There is much to think about here. Well worth reading as this book will make you appreciate the vunerability of our current existance.

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