The Quest: Energy, Security and the Remaking of the Modern World
Daniel Yergin
The Quest: Energy, Security and the Remaking of the Modern World
Daniel Yergin, author of The Prize, here looks at the on-going quest to meet the world's energy needs - and the power and riches that come with it. From the jammed streets of Beijing, the shores of the Caspian Sea, and the conflicts in the Middle East, to Capitol Hill and Silicon Valley, Yergin tells the inside stories of the oil market, the rise of the 'petrostate', the race to control the resources of the former Soviet empire, and the massive corporate mergers that have transformed the oil landscape. He shows how the drama of oil — the struggle for access to it, the battle for control, the insecurity of supply, its impact on the global economy, and the geopolitics that dominate it — will continue to shape our world. And he takes on the toughest questions: will we run out; are China and the United States destined for conflict; what of climate change? Yergin also reveals the surprising and turbulent histories of nuclear, coal, and natural gas, and investigates the 'rebirth of renewables' — biofuels, wind, and solar energy — showing how understanding this greening landscape and its future role are crucial to the needs of a growing world economy.
4.1 out of 5 based on 9 reviews
|
Omniscore:
|
| Classification |
Non-fiction |
| Genre |
Society, Politics & Philosophy, Business, Finance & Law |
| Format |
Hardback |
| Pages |
816 |
| RRP |
£30.00 |
| Date of Publication |
September 2011 |
| ISBN |
978-1846145421 |
| Publisher |
Allen Lane |
| |
Daniel Yergin, author of The Prize, here looks at the on-going quest to meet the world's energy needs - and the power and riches that come with it. From the jammed streets of Beijing, the shores of the Caspian Sea, and the conflicts in the Middle East, to Capitol Hill and Silicon Valley, Yergin tells the inside stories of the oil market, the rise of the 'petrostate', the race to control the resources of the former Soviet empire, and the massive corporate mergers that have transformed the oil landscape. He shows how the drama of oil — the struggle for access to it, the battle for control, the insecurity of supply, its impact on the global economy, and the geopolitics that dominate it — will continue to shape our world. And he takes on the toughest questions: will we run out; are China and the United States destined for conflict; what of climate change? Yergin also reveals the surprising and turbulent histories of nuclear, coal, and natural gas, and investigates the 'rebirth of renewables' — biofuels, wind, and solar energy — showing how understanding this greening landscape and its future role are crucial to the needs of a growing world economy.
Read an extract from the book | New York Times
Reviews
The Financial Times
Ed Cooke
"If [The Prize] was novelistic, The Quest is more like a handbook or primer. That said, it is impossible to think of a better introduction to the essentials of energy in the 21st century. In Yergin’s lucid, easy prose, the 800 pages flow freely … Above all, the value of The Quest is in the clarity and fair-mindedness of Yergin’s thought."
16/09/2011
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The New York Times
Dwight Garner
"… if anything, it’s an even better book [than The Prize] … The Quest will be necessary reading for C.E.O.’s, conservationists, lawmakers, generals, spies, tech geeks, thriller writers, ambitious terrorists and many others. But it won’t be easy reading. This is a very large and not overly elegant book; committing to it is like committing to a marriage, or to a car lease, or to climbing Everest ... What sucks you onward are its strong set pieces"
20/09/2011
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The New York Times
Fareed Zakaria
"… this book lacks the drama and compulsive readability of The Prize. But it is an important book nonetheless, a valuable primer on the basic issues that define energy today. Yergin is careful in his analysis and never polemical. If there is a flaw, it is that he is too cautious in some of his conclusions, shying away from saying outright what his narrative implies. Despite that, The Quest makes it clear that energy policy is not on the right course anywhere in the world and that everyone — on the left and the right, in the developed and the developing world — needs to rethink strongly held positions."
23/09/2011
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The Economist
The Economist
"Mr Yergin’s book is not always an easy read. Its scope is vast, parts of the book are confusingly structured and the author sometimes shies from pushing his arguments to a satisfying conclusion. That aside, “The Quest” is a masterly piece of work and, as a comprehensive guide to the world’s great energy needs and dilemmas, it will be hard to beat."
17/09/2011
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The Wall Street Journal
Steven F. Hayward
"The tale is generously sprinkled with facts debunking common misperceptions, and Mr. Yergin sagely analyzes how well the energy industry really works. What he does not do — despite what some readers may long for — is draw many conclusions ... Then again, when the nation's energy conversation is a muddle because no one, including the members of Congress, ever settles on what problem we're trying to solve — we want more oil and less! — who can blame him?"
20/09/2011
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The Washington Post
Bill McKibben
"Because he refuses to come to a conclusion one way or another on the central question, Yergin’s book ultimately doesn’t matter as much as it could have."
01/11/2011
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The Sunday Times
Danny Fortson
"[A] significant new factor in Yergin’s survey is climate change. Governments are ploughing billions into technologies to wean us from our “addiction to oil”. Yergin devotes the second half of his book to exploring all the ways in which we may do this. He would be remiss if he didn’t, but frankly it’s much less interesting than the cut and thrust of petro-politics."
18/09/2011
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The Observer
Derek Bower
"While [his] ringside seat is often an advantage, The Quest sometimes reads like the authorised biography of the oil industry ... Yergin's gift is in distilling dry topics into a readable narrative. He debunks notions of peak oil … But The Quest doesn't duck the paradox of the fossil fuel business: that the world wants more of the oil, gas and coal on which economic growth has depended — but risks catastrophe as it burns them."
16/10/2011
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The Sunday Telegraph
Nicholas Blincoe
"[It] lacks the narrative power of his earlier work ... Perhaps this is because Yergin knows the big players and intimacy has dulled the edge of his wit. Or perhaps it is simply that the speed of the past 20 years has proved too relentless even for a writer of his skill. Nevertheless, if The Quest lacks the punch of The Prize, it does have a grand theme: that fears over our future are driving the diversification of the energy market."
25/10/2011
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