Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't put it down - tons of information and well written
Review: This book is just wonderful. First, I couldn't put it down. At over 500 pages that meant a couple of very late nights. But it is so well written that it holds on to you.
And what it is about - the entire history of the oil industry. And it's all there, laid out clearly and in order and showing how it all ties together.
This is basically a perfect example of how all history books should be written. And proof that you can write an exhaustive history and make it thouroughly enjoyable to read.
Rating:
Summary: Simply superb
Review: In a word, superb. Perhaps I am biased, being a history buff in general, and in the oil industry myself. But even those not in the industry are still surrounded by, and perhaps feel somewhat controlled or manipulated by, big oil. So how did this industry evolve into the world's largest, with supernational corporations wielding more economic power than most governments? Yergin tells this fascinating story in a most readable style.
Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended reading
Review: Especially since the tragedies of September 11th, an honest understanding of the anger the Arabs of the Middle East have toward the West in general and the United States in particular is crucial for all Americans, regardless of political philosophy or affiliation. In "The Prize" Daniel Yergin helps to do just that. Despite being an extremely well researched,well written, and fascinating tome on the history of the oil industry in the U.S. and abroad (especially for me since I grew up in it), the book furthers ones understanding of the United States' place in this history which, in turn, helps us to understand why oil is a vital national interest to the most powerful nation on earth. With this in mind, the book helps one to understand not only the influence people like the Samuel brothers, the Rothschilds, and the Rockefellers had on the development and growth of the industry, but most importantly how and why this industry has such influence on the direction of U.S. foreign policy.
Rating: 
Summary: Great history of oil and our mideast policy
Review: Although this book is 10 years old and ends its analysis with the Gulf war, this book is invaluable to understanding why we still have troops in the Saudi desert which fuels the rage of Bin Laden and others. Even beyond the gulf war however, Yergen shows why and how we entered into the Faustian bargain of supporting the opressive and undemocratic regimes of the gulf in exchange for cheap oil.As Yergen makes clear, because of our dependance on oil of the mideast and it is sometimes an impossible balancing act to both supporting our traditional ally Israel while at the same time placating oil producing states in which anti-semitism is both ingrained in the political culture and used as a way to deflect political dissent. This tension exploded in 1973 when the arab states embargoed our oil for our support of Israel in the Yom Kippur war. If I were to falt Yergen for anything it would be that he never explains the tensions which run against the oil pressures. For example, he never articulates really any reason for why we supported Israel through the cold war, he just says that this support came under pressure from our need to have cheap oil. More than anything, Yergen brings truth to the recent assertion that to be patriotic you shouldn't fly an american flag from your SUV, rather you shouldn't drive an SUV.
Rating:
Summary: Understanding the 'why' of modern history
Review: A lot of what happens in the world today is because of oil. the need for it, the need to sell it, or the need to keep it out of the hands of your enemy. This book looks at history from that perspective from 1800's to the Gulf War. But that isn't why I rated this book a 5 and that isn't why I used this book as the inspiration for my senior thesis in college. This book has enough information in here to teach an oil executive more about his field, and it tells the story on a level that the average curious mind could digest it all. Why I love this book? Because this is the book you give to a cousin or a friend who always had the ability to learn a lot about the world but never did because he doesn't see how it is relevant to his life. This book is the one that wakes someone up. If you can get past the formidable size, you get to a great great story. A great story that, as I said to an 11-year old who I actually sucked into the stories in this book, "a great story and it actually happened - it's a true story!" That's the most amazing part of this book. Yergin can take credit for writing the authoritative account of an amazing story with gainful insight into the way the modern world now operates.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for those working in the oil industry
Review: This book is a must for anyone working in the oil industry. Though written early last decade during the Gulf War, much of the discussion and analyses in this book is still relevant today... proving that the old economy - powered by oil - is still very much a force to be reckoned with.
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Summary: Oil as a strategic resource and the issues of the mid-east
Review: A very interesting and masterly account of the oil Industry, right from the its humble origins in Western Pennsylvania where Col. Drake drilled the first oil well in 1859, to 1990 and Saddam Hussein's invasion of Europe. Mr. Yergin combines the remarkable story-telling style of Gibbon (Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire) with the intensely factual and rigorous analysis style of Paul Keneddy (Rise and Fall of Great POwers). The result is a book which you shall like, irrespective of whether your interest is in stories or in the economics or in the politics of oil.
An understanding of Oil and its Strategic Significance as a natural resource have driven the foreign policy of all major powers all through the 20th century.
This book also offers insights into the Psyche of the oil producing nations and the factors governing their policy. The experiences of Oil companies in other nations and the issues faced by them (Nationalization etc.) offer lessons to be learnt for any multi national company intent on doing business across borders.
Rating:
Summary: A biography of the world's most interesting business
Review: My interest in Daniel Yergin's "The Prize" was piqued earlier in the year, when energy, not terrorism, was the most pressing domestic problem. For an economy that had gotten so caught up with the intangibles, with over-hyped, un-real products (haven't we all had enough of "e-business solutions?"), it was refreshing to study an industry dealing with a very tangible product whose supply is so essential to the survival of our economy itself. "The Prize" traces the history of oil from its humble, entrepreneurial beginnings in the hillsides of western Pennsylvania, to the shrewd domination of the industry by John D. Rockefeller, to the breakup of Standard Oil, and through the discovery of oil in the farthest flung corners of the globe. Part of Yergin's history is something of a tragedy: the gradual seizure of oil from the voyagers who discovered it by national governments who were able to use their seizures to threaten the West during the 1973 oil shock and beyond. In this one very big instance, third world governments really did take on multinational corporations -- and defeated them. Yergin chronicles how oil went from a freewheeling business of refiners and speculators to an instrument of great geopolitical importance, one where nation-states played at least as great a role in shaping the industry as the oil companies did. In this transition, anything could -- and did -- happen. Rock bottom prices threatened the survival of oil producers one year, and sky-high prices forced drastic changes in consumer behavior the next (indeed, "The Prize" does give one a crystal-clear view of the price mechanism). Nightmare scenarios involving the political manipulation of oil did indeed come to pass in 1973, in 1979, and during the Gulf War. There is no shortage of high drama throughout this story. One thing I would add to this book is a few pages, no more, no less, on the science and technology behind oil. What is it -- or what do we think it came from? How is it extracted? How have new technologies increased efficiency? If you want a business history that will simultaneously teach you quite a bit about world history (and about the Middle East), "The Prize" is a sure bet.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book!!!!
Review: Being on the downstream side of the oil business, my curiousity was piqued by the title. It was interesting to see the history of the business so well laid out. I am the third generation in the business and I can verify some of the events mentioned in the book, personally. All-in-all, a well written book.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly well thought out and useful
Review: The 20th Century was truly dominated by the advent of internal combustion and daniel yergin's classic is a fantastic study of how and why this occurred. From its meager, uesless beginnings to the oil boom of the 1980s, oil has been the catalyst for a lot more of history than most would think. Here it is all laid bare. The story of oil and the engine make possible the influx of new and faster wepaons of war in the two world wars, and made its availability a critical strategic goal from then on. Yergin's account of the huge importnace oil had on the wars and Cold War geopolitics is incredibly obvious in hindsight, but the information here is presented in a clear, insightful manner. I use this book each year to explain to my classes the how and why of 20th century diplomacy and goals. And each year, they find it easy to learn thanks to The Prize.
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