Oil, Power, and War
by Matthieu Auzanneau · first published 2018
83% recommend17% neutral
Why HN recommends it
History of the world told through energy, with oil as the central thread linking war, economics and society; recommended for readers who want an energy-first lens on history and geopolitics.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"Oil, Power, and War is a sweeping, unabashed history of oil, told by French journalist Matthieu Auzanneau. It provides a detailed account of the people and events that drove the oil industry from its earliest days, and takes a critical look at the way oil interests have commandeered politics and economies, changed cultures, disrupted power balances across the globe, and spawned wars. The author exposes the greed and reckless behavior--by a long line of characters from John D. Rockefeller to Dick Cheney--that moved oil along its destructive, unsustainable path, from its heyday when the first o
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I feel Oil, Power and War by Matthieu Auzanneau would deserve more publicity. (Edit: italicized)
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?” ↗…relationship between society and energy, the more it appears energy sources and availability mold society, like transport, food, architecture, politics, urbanization, philosophy or medicine. The book "Oil, Power, and War: A Dark History" by Matthieu Auzanneau (Or in French: "Or Noir") shows that quite well.
on “Architecture: From Prehistory to Climate Emergency Review” ↗Not in a post, but here's a few books for you: Seignorage on a global reserve currency: read "the global minotaur", the story of oil: read "Oil, Power, and War" by Matthieu Auzanneau, and for completeness: "The brothers" by Stephen Kinzer.
on “Details on Xiaomi EV” ↗…<https://archive.org/details/industrialrevol00toyngoog/page/n...> I'm strongly partial to looking at history through the lens / frame of energy. Several books and authors do this: - Matthieu Auzanneau, Oil, Power, and War: a dark history. Chelsea Green Publishing Co., (2020). https://www.worldcat.org/title/oil-power-and-war-a-dark-hist... - Vaclav Smil, Energy in World History. Routledge (1994) https://www.worldcat.org/title/energy-in-world-history/oclc/...…
on “Ask HN: What Are Some Good Books on the First Industrial Revolution?” ↗Not to forget that WWII was a war won by oil. Whoever was able to mobilize the most energy (in the form of oil) could win (a great book about that: Oil, Power and War[0]). Retooling in the face of declining energy availability will be a different matter. [0]: https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/oil-power-and-war/
on “CO2 in the atmosphere just exceeded 415ppm for the first time in human history” ↗Oil, Power, and War : A Dark History should be close enough ? https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42527868-oil-power-and-w...
In fairness, he did so in part because this was going to go against Total's interests (see Oil, Power and War for that part of the story), but yeah, it was still the right stance to have and history proved him right.
on “Millions are visiting the European Alternatives site. What trends are we seeing?” ↗