Brandt's Notes

I recently finished the sweeping history of oil by Matthew Auzanneau, "Oil, Power, and War."  Originally published in 2015, this work was translated into English (from French) in 2018.  This book's existence stands apart from the prevailing available literature on the history of oil for a variety of reasons.  For one, it creates a counter-narrative to the preeminent work on the history of oil, "The Prize", by Daniel Yergin.  Secondly, while Yergin's book won the Pulitzer, "Oil, Power, and War" hardly has a handful of reviews in English available online.  Lastly, the book attempts to upend a number of debate topics around oil.  As a few examples, when most are worried about climate change, it focuses on peak oil; when economics focuses on internal sources for financial crises, it suggests oil is at the source of 20th century economic growth and its panics; and while others count the days to oil's peak, it claims we've passed it. The book its...