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James Howard Kunstler

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The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Cent Paperback – March 2, 2006

by James Howard Kunstler (Author, Afterword)

4.3 464 ratings

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A controversial hit that sparked debate among businessmen, environmentalists, and bloggers, The Long Emergency by James Howard Kunstler is an eye-opening look at the unprecedented challenges we face in the years ahead, as oil runs out and the global systems built on it are forced to change radically.

4 stars and above

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Editorial Reviews

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It used to be that only environmentalists and paranoids warned about the world running out of oil and the future it could bring: crashing economies, resource wars, social breakdown, agony at the pump. Not anymore. . . . America’s dependence on oil is too pervasive to undo quickly, [Kunstler] warns. . . . In the meantime, we’ll have our hands full dealing with . . . the soaring temperatures, rising sea levels and mega-droughts brought by global climate change. Not long ago, a Jeremiah like Kunstler would have been dismissed as a kook. . . . As brilliant as it is baleful . . . and we disregard it at our peril.” The Washington Post

This is a frightening and important book.” Time Out Chicago

If you give a damn, you should read this book.” Colin Tudge, The Independent

What sets The Long Emergency apartis its comprehensive sweepits powerful integration of science, technology, economics, finance, international politics and social change, along with a fascinating attempt to peer into a chaotic future. Kunstler is such a compelling and sometimes eloquent writer that the book is hard to put down.” American Scientist

[A] popular blueprint for surviving the end of oil.” Paul Greenberg, The New York Times Book Review

Funny, irreverent, and blunt.” The Globe and Mail

An especial strength of this book is its break with some of the more pernicious strands in the contemporary left, specifically the left’s kneejerk rejection of America acting militarily in its national interest. . . . There are hints of Malthus here, and of Oswald Spangler’s Decline of the West as well. Mr. Kunstler’s book is a jeremiad, driven by authorial presence. Pithy, entertaining descriptions of historical phenomena like the Soviet Union . . . enliven the text, allowing the veteran commentator to expound on themes that might read leaden by a less facile wordsmith. . . . The book succeeds as an accessible primer to a looming crisis that could end the American way of life.” A.G. Gancarski, Washington Times

Kunstler is an amusing and engaging observer and polemicist, and the terrain he surveys is unforgiving and perilous.” Robert Birnbaum, The Morning News

Novelist and journalist James Howard Kunstler is the leading popular voice of peak oil, the theory that says we have gone through more than half the world’s supply of this much-needed resource. Kunstler’s regular Monday morning posts foretell a world beset by oil shortages, which he believes will lead to everything from financial shenanigans (sound familiar?) to food riots, not to mention attacks on the wealthy, abandoned suburban housing developments and a forced return to small-town living.” Helaine Olen, Portfolio

Kunstler displays a kind of macabre wit about the unpleasantness and strife that await us all. . . . His assertions have a neat way of doubling back to anticipate your critiques. If you express doubt about his views, then you may well be among the deluded masses too addicted to your McSUV and McSuburb to accept the reality that lies ahead.”
Katharine Mieszkowski, salon.com

Kunstler is America’s version of an Old Testament prophet, a stinging social critic who warns of dark days ahead if we do not change the way we live.” Brian Kaller, Pulse

Kunstler’s book was shockingly readable and engaging.He covers a vast array of topicsI felt like I’d taken a crash course on Big Oil, Global Warming, and Geopolitics just to name a few.”Romi Lassally, Huffington Post

James Howard Kunstler’s The Long Emergency may be destined to become the Dante’s Inferno of the twenty-first century. It graphically depicts the horrific punishments that lie ahead for Americans for more than a century of sinful consumption and sprawling communities, fueled by the profligate use of cheap oil and gas. Its central messagethat the country will pay dearly unless it urgently develops new, sustainable community-scale food systems, energy sources, and living patternsshould be read, digested, and acted upon by every conscientious U.S. politician and citizen.” Michael Shuman, author of Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in a Global Age

If you give a damn, you should read this book.” Colin Tudge, The Independent (UK)

Kunstler concentrates on the continuing environmental instability and the political consequences of the fuel cessation in equal bouts and this makes for a well rounded argument.” Buzz (UK)

In the annals of doomsday literature . . . The Long Emergency is destined to become the new standard. . . . Demands frank consideration of what up to now has been unthinkable: that the ascendancy of the human race might have been a temporary phenomenon. . . . This case has been made before, but here it is made powerfully and articulately, with no apology and no hint of reprieve. . . . The Long Emergency represents a wake-up call’ in the same sense that a hand grenade tossed through your bedroom window might serve as an alarm clock. The book is stark and frightening. Read it soon.” Jim Charlier, Daily Camera

A shrewd and engaging social commentator.” Sierra Atlantic

Adds a relentless, scary, and entertaining voice to the rising alarm about life after the cheap oil is gone. . . . The internal logic of the argument is persuasive, and one reads . . . the book with white knuckles.” Bryant Urstadt, technologyreview.com

Authoritative and eye-opening. His predictions for the future make for a page-turning Brave New World.’” T-D (London)

James Howard Kunstler has given us, with his usual engaging wit and verve, a new kind
of post-apocalypse scenario. Instead of the nuclear or ice-age wasteland of our earlier imaginings, he has depicted with detailed extrapolation the civilization of the United States after the oil runs out and a great economic collapse occurs. It is a strangely arcadian vision, like the agrarian America that Jefferson, Calhoun, and the Southern Agrarians dreamed of. But Kunstler has fleshed it out with delightful quirky insights and provided our science fiction writers with a fresh mise-en-scene.” Frederick Turner, author of The New World and The Culture of Hope

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Grove Press; First Edition (March 2, 2006)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0802142494
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0802142498
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.9 x 8.9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #706,748 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #55 in Petroleum Engineering
- #450 in Environmental Policy
- #700 in Environmental Economics (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.3 464 ratings

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James Howard Kunstler

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James Howard Kunstler is probably best known as the author of "The Long Emergency" (The Atlantic Monthly Press 2005), and "The Geography of Nowhere" (Simon and Schuster, 1993). Two other non-fiction titles in that series are "Home From Nowhere" (Simon and Schuster, 1996), and "The City in Mind" (Simon and Schuster, 2002). He's also the author of many novels, including his tale of the post-oil American future, "World Made By Hand" (The Atlantic Monthly press, 2008) and its three sequels. His shorter work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic Monthly, Metropolis, Rolling Stone, Playboy, and many other periodicals.

James Howard Kunstler was born in New York City in 1948. He attended New York's High School of Music and art and SUNY Brockport (BA, Theater, 1971). He was a reporter for the Boston Phoenix, the Albany Knickerbocker News, and later an editor with Rolling Stone Magazine. In 1975 he dropped out of corporate journalism to write books, and settled in Saratoga Springs, New York. He now lives in nearby Washington County, N.Y., the setting of his "World Made By Hand" series.

Kunstler's popular blog, Clusterf**k Nation, is published every Monday morning at www.kunstler.com and his podcast, The KunstlerCast, is refreshed once per month.

Kunstler is also a serious professional painter. His work may be seen at www.kunstler.com

Find JHK on Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/JamesHowardKunstler

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464 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book informative and well-researched. They praise the clear writing style and the author's way with words. The book is considered a worthwhile read that provides accurate predictions about the near future. Many readers describe it as entertaining and exciting. However, some feel the scariness level is overdone, with a doomsday scenario that is insidious.

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Insight Writing style Readability Accuracy Entertainment value Author quality Energy use Scariness level

66 customers mention "Insight"60 positive6 negative

Customers find the book informative and well-researched. They appreciate the author's ability to pull together information from different areas. The book provides an excellent overview of humanity's obsession with progress and is a valuable introduction to the topic. While some readers found the analyses insightful, others felt the details were off.

"...His extensive research on this topic is excellent, whether we like the the facts or not. Read it and begin to prepare." Read more

"...This is a book about the history of humans and oil. The relationship has made for an exciting ride. It may be a bumpy ending...." Read more

"...but he does cover all of the bases in very clear terms and raises important questions that, even if you disagree with his particular analyses,..." Read more

"...I was with him most of the way; his facts seemed believable and some I have seen documented elsewhere - of all places, papers by scientists and..." Read more

48 customers mention "Writing style"38 positive10 negative

Customers find the book's writing style clear and easy to read. They appreciate the author's way with words and how he puts the last 250 years in perspective. The book provides valuable commentary and detailed explanations of what life might be like after the events depicted. While the topic is complicated, the author makes good arguments for each conclusion.

"...He does discuss many important issues, but I think there are better authors on the subjects, whether on peak oil or anthropology or history...." Read more

"...Kunstler is a fine writer who has done the background work necessary to give us the clearest picture of where we stand now with regards to our..." Read more

"...While Kunstler is talented and articulate, there is nobody who is quite as convinced of that great talent than, well, Kunstler himself...." Read more

"...backed up by reams of facts and statistics, however, they are not very well documented. (There is no index and notes section in this book.)..." Read more

47 customers mention "Readability"47 positive0 negative

Customers find the book useful and worth reading. It will convince them that major changes are coming.

"...may instead become *The End of Man on Planet Earth." A VERY good read that, without advocating violence or other counter-productive measures,..." Read more

"...The message is ugly but it is certainly worth getting." Read more

"...If you're like me, you'll agree that it is an important read. And even if you don't like it, you can always burn it for fuel in a few years." Read more

"...Overall, though, the book is great. No truly patriotic American can afford to ignore it." Read more

10 customers mention "Accuracy"10 positive0 negative

Customers find the book accurately predicts the future and provides a coherent forecast. They mention it accurately predicted the housing and credit bubble in advance. The book is described as accurate and in excellent condition. Readers appreciate the depth of research and razor-sharp analysis.

"...It also shows how suburbia is not sustainable. Very insightful, very accurate...." Read more

"This book is tough to embrace, however I think it is a very accurate and probable picture of our future...." Read more

"...This book will convince the reader that there are major changes in our future and our standard of living...." Read more

"Entertaining and insightful book. Boldly makes predictions for the future." Read more

4 customers mention "Entertainment value"4 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's entertainment value. They find it entertaining and insightful, with an exciting journey. While some readers mention a bumpy ending, they find the book chilling but entertaining overall.

"...The relationship has made for an exciting ride. It may be a bumpy ending. I believe that Kunstler is right on the money...." Read more

"...What an amazing journey!..." Read more

"Long Emergency is an easy read, chilling but somehow entertaining, and generally on target...." Read more

"Entertaining and insightful book. Boldly makes predictions for the future." Read more

8 customers mention "Author quality"4 positive4 negative

Customers have different views on the author's quality. Some find him talented and articulate, with depth of research. Others feel he is rambling and pessimistic, lacking real knowledge to impart.

"...While Kunstler is talented and articulate, there is nobody who is quite as convinced of that great talent than, well, Kunstler himself...." Read more

"...However, i thought the writer was a little bit pessimistic...." Read more

"Mr. Kunstler is obviously a brilliant person and a great writer, but even as this book is a "must read", it is also flawed in a few (very few)..." Read more

"...It is written by a prejudiced biggot, who has no real knowlege to impart to the reader. I'll sell my copy for $1- and help pay the SHI!..." Read more

8 customers mention "Energy use"5 positive3 negative

Customers have different views on energy use. Some find it available and cheap, while others say there are no alternative sources or technologies.

"...Nuclear is the only way to go, in terms of energy output per unit of energy input, AND it's the only way to stop the emission of the billions of..." Read more

"...Jim does address this reasonably well by stating the fact that technology uses energy, but it does not create energy out of nothing...." Read more

"...because there are almost no alternate fuels that can take the place of fossil fuels...." Read more

"...age has been built upon a platform of available, often cheap, energy...." Read more

21 customers mention "Scariness level"3 positive18 negative

Customers find the book frightening and unsettling. They say it offers little hope and is pessimistic. The book provides a doomsday scenario with little alternative.

"...A frightening book, but one we must read to better prepare ourselves for the near future...." Read more

"Critics of this book have called it pessimistic and a jeremiad...." Read more

"...In a sense, a very frightening book, with a doomsday scenario that is insidious and perhaps paralyzing...." Read more

"...This is scary stuff, but if we care about future generations we have a duty to try to understand and mitigate it as best we can." Read more

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Bubba Pearson
Scary as Heck and almost certainly Accurate
Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2013
Verified Purchase
OK, when you read this and meet the Dark Side Of The Force (which really does seem to be us, especially those we elect to *represent* us in government office)... If you're not scared of the dark side now, you will be. You. Will. Be. It's very hard to say you like a book that seems to so accurately pinpoint our past failings and even worse the *fixes* we're making now all in the name of what basically will be the end of the world for humans (our world will adapt and move on, but humans I think already have experienced the pinnacle of the miracles of *modern life* as it pertains to them), but I do like it very much. After picking it up just as a sort of general interest thing (after just finishing a book talking about fracking and all the other ways we are ruining our one and only home's ability to support us in ANY sort of comfort in the ever-tougher-but-never-ending (although there will BE an ending) search for that sweet crude that is the foundation for all we find comfortable-to-essential for *modern* life). I found the history of the rise and the author's ideas about the fall of this civilization -- all based on the use of fossil fuels that can NOT be renewed -- very fascinating reading. When I was a kid in high school, working in a gas station during the first (and worst) of the *oil shortages* and learned the outlines at least of what was happening to us basically for nothing other than greed (my assertion, I don't know particularly that the author could pick one cause-for-all-that-is-coming to man from his own actions), and never have gotten over the shock of the shortages (especially after the 2nd one!) of something (fossil fuels) that is finite and will end soon. We had the *crises*, then ... what, it just ended? The non-renewable resource had been replenished somehow? And then we had the SECOND GAS CRISES! Then -- poof! -- that, too seemed to somehow disappear by nothing more than the waving of political magic wands. A liter (somewhere between a quart and a gallon) back then started to cost $8.00 per and up, but our prices went right on back to *normal*. We are STILL complaining about the cost of something everyone seems to have hypnotized everyone else into believing will never end at 3 and 4 bucks a gallon! We're at war all over the globe (but the mid-east seems a particular *hot-spot*). Everything the U.S. did wrong to get to this disposable, wasteful, use-it-and-forget-it lifestyle everyone else now wants to do so they too can have their equivalent of *the American dream*. This book is trying to tell us it isn't a dream anymore -- that WE MAY ALREADY HAVE PASSED THE POSSIBLE PINNACLE OF OUR CIVILIZATION since the oil on which it all was based is going away. Everyone still seems to be doing their best to believe the CATASTROPHE looming on the horizon (where all the boys and girls have nukes now) won't happen, and still -- the oil is running out. Now, we are busily poisoning what's left of our fresh water (through *fracking*) to make the ever-smaller quantities of oil keep producing at rates they no longer can sustain. It is WAY past time to yell stop, in my opinion. The "Long Emergency" about which the author writes has the serious potential to be the end of mankind on earth (and just by looking around, one can tell THE LONG EMERGENCY already has begun) and still, everything seems to be business as usual. Places all over the United States that used to have large, pure, mostly self-sustaining clean water to drink now can literally turn on the tap, wait a few moments, hold up a source of fire to what should be *tap-water* and instead FIRE comes out. We really need to get going (it's past too late, but we MUST start!) on this stuff, or THE LONG EMERGENCY may instead become *The End of Man on Planet Earth." A VERY good read that, without advocating violence or other counter-productive measures, is trying to tell everyone something they desperately need to hear -- an excellent and highly recommended read. Be ready for shocks and examples of idiocy almost beyond the ability to comprehend, but please, buy it, read it, and if you can, do SOMETHING, almost ANYTHING to ensure that others also know what is happening and what could happen. This no longer (in my opinion) is something only *our kids* and future generations will have to deal with. It already has started, and we need to start doing something intelligent and productive about it RIGHT NOW!

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James
Good points, but lacks evidence, too many predictions
Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2013
Verified Purchase
I'm a radical and I do think our current industrial way of life will be over this century, but I wouldn't recommend this book. He does discuss many important issues, but I think there are better authors on the subjects, whether on peak oil or anthropology or history. He makes A LOT of assertions without evidence (he seems to me a hack pundit rather than an expert) and loads of predictions about our future, so it's very hit and miss (it seems like there are hundreds of mistakes in this book). For example, he rightly talks about the housing bubble and how suburbia isn't sustainable, but then he also talks about how shale gas isn't economically viable (fracking?) and how peak oil would be between 2000 and 2008 (we're still not there it seems). This book is not only human-focused, but American-focused. He mostly talks about the industrious people in America, leaving out the non-industrious poor. He doesn't make any deep criticism of our culture or past, leaving out a lot about how we got to be such a destructive and individualistic state.

Good points:

1. 2008 recession. He predicted the housing bubble.
2. He criticizes consumerism, suburbia, and car culture.
3. He rightly says our culture is dying, and that we will be moving into a "Long Emergency".

Bad points (these are some examples, there are hundreds of mistakes and loads of junk commentary/predictions in this book):

1. Racism. He lumps Muslims together in chapter 3 for criticism about fundamentalism, and lumps blacks together for criticism in chapter 7. Chapter 3 sounds a lot like what comes out of the mouth of neoconservatives like Thomas Friedman. He seems to support the war in Iraq.

2. He leaves out much popular social criticism about our industrial way of thinking, commitment and individualism in America: see Morris Berman, Philip Slater, Robert Bellah, World-Systems Analysis.

3. He leaves out anthropology, especially when talking about culture and community. He doesn't mention older traditions and ways of living, especially tribal cultures.

4. He says that natives will one day reinhabit the Great Plains. This seems far-fetched.

5. Throughout the book, he says anarchy = chaos and violence. I don't think he's read radical literature, as the word means "without leaders". Read The Democracy Project by David Graeber.

6. He says humans have always made transactions with money. This is false: anthropologists recognize we first had credit before anything else: read Debt: The First 5,000 Years

7. He doesn't discuss pre-scientific thought: people in industrialized countries drastically changed our way of thinking 400 years ago, but he doesn't really address this. Read, "Reenchantment of The World" by Morris Berman.

8. Peak oil. He said shale gas wouldn't be economically viable (he didn't anticipate fraking), and we'd hit peak between 2000 and 2008. He was wrong on both points, but I do believe the peak oil discussion is important. There is good writing about peak oil on smartplanet.com, and discussion by EIA, USGS, and university professors and other authors. It seems peak oil will occur closer to mid-century than right now. That's still really close, so definitely important to talk about!

8. He focuses on peak oil above all reasons that we will enter the "Long Emergency", though it seems like other things could be important as well. There is also pollution, loss of biodiversity, destruction of ecosystems, overconsumption, lack of commitment in American life. Also our economy is based on debt, and it seems like another recession could really mess the system up. He doesn't mention world-systems analysis.

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Celeste
Must read to understand the future energy
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2024
Verified Purchase
Although first published nearly 20 years ago, this book is still timely. We are awaiting a future with a prospect of much lower energy for our day to day existence, and Kunstler explains why. His extensive research on this topic is excellent, whether we like the the facts or not. Read it and begin to prepare.

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Lance Read
Feast Then Famine for Humans
Reviewed in Canada on January 26, 2013
Verified Purchase
Alberta based Canadian writer Nikiforuk does an excellent job of showing us how we will eventually be living in a World Made By Hand as we burn up the rest of the cheaper fossil fuels heading towards a world where alternate fuels will be of little help. EVERYTHING we use - eat, rely on for health care, wear, play-with, watch and read is fossil fuel based and it is getting ever more expensive economically and environmentally to convert the crappy dregs like Tar-sands, shale oil/gas and deep sea into usable energy.

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andy23889
Sustainable Retreat, the only hopeful future
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 22, 2012
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Breathlessly written by James Howard Kunstler, and with the very long subtitle of Surviving the [End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other] Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century. My edition had a shorter one by excising the bracketed words but they are key to the book with half of it being about oil (and its curtain-raiser, coal).

Both have correlated with our rocketing world population and have defined the carrying capacity of Planet Earth. Before the Industrial Revolution our numbers struggled up to 1 billion and managed to exploit most corners of the world. Now oil allows 7 billion. And when the oil runs out... Will nuclear, hydrogen, solar, wind or hydro cut it? They're relatively so inefficient and user-unfriendly that it seems not.

We believe that technology will deliver. Kunstler doesn't mention biofuel but that may postdate 2004. It doesn't change his assertion that oil also fuels technology so it'd better find an alternative before it runs out. Well before; like now, and that doesn't seem to be happening.

Next up is climate change (not global warming!) Here's a nugget: twice in the last 20,000 years the planet has warmed by double-digit degrees (Fahrenheit, I assume) in about a decade. So you can throw away your smooth temperature projections. It can go crazy!

Oh, we've had scares about the future before. I grew up with the Cold War and nuclear winter but it was only ever one threat at a time. Now the question seems to be more the order in which the many will come. End of oil; end of gas; rising sea; depleted water; exhausted soil (which in any case requires gas to fertilise it for the yields we expect); disease (exacerbated by rising temperatures). And that's not all...

The Running on Fumes chapter is an economic history and pretty much above my head. But I recognise a few terms, enough to think that Kunstler was somehow predicting the banking and real estate crisis that knocked the bottom out of my shares not long back. If so, I'm impressed and the more ready to believe his other projections.

The final chapter is a guess of how, principally, the US may cope post-oil. It sounds rather nice, for the 6 billion who won't die of course. But they'll largely be Johnny Foreigners so who cares about them? The other proviso is that society doesn't degenerate into anarchy or war - rather a big ask given our reputation.

An eye-opener for me then and I thought I was au fait with most thinking about the future. This book does continue the sustainable retreat theme, which looks like the only rational, and hopeful, course of action. We won't like it but we'll like the alternative worse.

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Cheerioh
un avis très détaillé et intéressant sur ce qui nous attend probablement à ceci près que...
Reviewed in France on January 10, 2017
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J'ai découvert J H Kunstler via son roman qui place l'humanité dans une situation post apocalyptique après une rupture massive de la normalité. Très intéressant comme point de vue sur un monde qui revient brutalement et bon an mal an à un monde plus proche de ce que connaissait le monde moderne au XVIIIème siècle.

Dans ce long essai, l'auteur explique ce qui lui a permis d'envisager une telle rupture et les éléments qui l'ont amené à l'envisager comme un avenir potentiel pour l'humanité. Il est clair quand on commence à se documenter sur le sujet que notre société décadente approche de ses dernières heures mais après une telle lecture (qu'il m'a fallu un certain temps pour encaisser, en plusieurs fois) cela paraît évident et à juste raison.

Ainsi on ne sort pas indemne des chiffres et faits bien réels qui indiquent qu'on va sur un épuisement des ressources et l'analyse faite par l'auteur des alternatives actuellement disponibles fait assez froid dans le dos car aucune ne tient vraiment la route et on constate qu'on se trouve vraiment dans une impasse.

De même le passage sur l'analyse géopolitique des conflits mondiaux du point de vue des ressources témoigne d'une capacité d'analyse hors du commun. C'est un point de vue personnel.

Pour autant le dernier chapitre n'est pas totalement négatif car du point de vue de l'auteur le monde actuel est une absurdité, opinion que je partage à beaucoup d'endroits. Pour lui le retour à la terre est une évidence mais ce retour sera difficile du fait de la maltraitance des sols, de même l'urbanisme à l'américaine est responsable d'une perte majeure des sols arables. Du coup il est important également pour moi de mentionner à de futurs lecteurs que la description de l'auteur est destinée aux Américains et de par ce fait dresse un état des lieux dont nous sommes encore un petit peu éloignés. Une bonne leçon à prendre et vive la SAFER qui protège encore les terres cultivables des rapaces de l'économie moderne.

Bref, un propos bien instructif et pas forcément trop sombre. Je ne mets que 4 étoiles bien que l'ouvrage soit passionnant car je regrette amèrement dans cette analyse qu'on sent très documentée que l'auteur n'ait pas jugé bon de partager la moindre source. Je trouve que ça jette à son propos un certain discrédit, ne serait sans mes lectures annexes je pourrais douter de la validité de son analyse.

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P. Blundell
Sobering Reading
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 15, 2009
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I wouldn't recommend this book for holiday poolside reading, unless you want to have a depressing holiday. However, the message is clear and stark. We are running out of fossil fuels at a rapid rate. Global warming isn't really the issue we should be worried about, the real problem is oil and natural gas depletion. Once they run out there won't be any carbon emmisions anyway. The book is well written in a non dramatic style but the message is clear - the greatest challenge of the 21st Century will be upon us sooner than we think and this book makes it very plain that we are nowehere near ready to meet that challenge. The party will soon be over and when it ends, we had better prepare to turn the clock back 200 years in terms of our ability to travel, heat our homes and carry on our businesses.

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AC
Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on April 8, 2016
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good book and quick shipping

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