The Secret World of Oil
Author | : | |
Rating | : | 4.27 (995 Votes) |
Asin | : | 1781688672 |
Format Type | : | paperback |
Number of Pages | : | 288 Pages |
Publish Date | : | 2015-03-02 |
Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
He has been a Fellow at the Edmond J. Previously on the staff of the Los Angeles Times, Silverstein has also written for Mother Jones, Wallpaper, Washington Monthly, the Nation, Slate, Salon, and many other publications. He served as Washington Editor of Harper’s Magazine from 2006 to 2010. .
Supported by funding from the prestigious Open Society, this is both an entertaining global travelogue and a major work of investigative reporting.. But the modern oil industry is an amazingly shady meeting ground of fixers, gangsters, dictators, competing governments, and multinational corporations, and until now, no book has set out to tell the story of this largely hidden world.The global fleet of some 11,000 tankers—that's tripled during the past decade—moves approximately 2 billion metric tons of oil annually. And every stage of the route, from discovery to consumption, is tainted by corruption and violence, even if little of that is visible to the public.Based on trips to New York, Washington, Houston, London, Paris, Geneva, Phnom Penh, Dakar, Lagos, Baku, and Moscow, among other far-flung locals, The Secret World of Oil includes up-close portraits of a shadowy Baku-based trader; a high-flying London fixer; and an oil dictator's playboy son who has to choose one of his eleven luxury vehicles when he heads out to party in Los Angeles. The oil industry provides the lifeblood of modern civilization, and bestselling book
Ian Mann said It is easy to think of oil as something pumped from the. The title of this book is somewhat misleading. While there is much about the secret world of oil, there is as much about other extracted commodities as well. That said, this is both an engaging and shocking read.It is easy to think of oil as something pumped from the ground and refined into the petrol that fuels your car. However, no economy anywhere in the world can function without . "Opens eyes on what it takes to fill a tank with gas" according to James L. Webster. If you have ever wondered why the U.S.supports leaders of countries whose ways of governing are totally alien to our sense of right and wrong, then this book will offer explanations. If oil is the lifeblood of our country, getting it means that we have often bargained with the devil. KS offers a look at how the industry operates and it's anything but pretty.. "Five Stars" according to Amazon Customer. Outstanding expose of how Big Oil manipulated the public and the political system.
With a deft combination of detail and color, Silverstein exposes the darkest shade of crude: the fixers and middlemen who arrange the deals that provide us with the oil we need to keep our cars running and our homes warm. As Silverstein shows, these deals enrich the kleptocrats of our world and make life worse, rather than better, for their unfortunate subjects. As the fossil fuel industry tightens its grip on our warming planet, The Secret World of Oil names names, and exposes the brokers, lobbyists, and fixers who profit from the misery of millions and the accelerating pollution of the planet.” —Amy Goodman, host and executive producer, Democracy Now!"Silverstein writes with keen rep