A History of Royal Dutch Shell - Hardcover

Zanden, Jan Luiten Van

9780199298778: A History of Royal Dutch Shell

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199298777 ISBN 13: 9780199298778

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2007

Understanding oil is essential for understanding modern history. The 20th century has rightly been called the century of oil, and the importance of this most strategic of commodities shows now sign of abating in the 21st century. From its creation in 1907 Royal Dutch Shell has played a key role in the global oil industry. For most of the 20th century Royal Dutch Shell was either the largest, or after Standard Oil/Exxon, the second largest oil company.

This authoritative and meticulously researched history three volume history provides an unparalleled account of the company's rich and diverse history. It shows how access to oil was both the cause of many a conflict, and a key to victory in wars fought for other causes. Oil powered the economy and provided the raw materials for products such as plastics, detergents, and pesticides which radically changed our culture and material environment.

The first volume, by Joost Jonker and Jan Luiten van Zanden covers the development of Royal Dutch Shell from the foundation of the two main constituting companies until the outbreak of the Second World War, years of rapid growth, when the company was dominated by Henri Deterding. The second volume by Stephen Howarth and Joost Jonker takes the story from the Outbreak of the Second World War to the first oil crisis of 1973. Volume three by Keetie Sluyterman highlights how Shell faced up to the nationalizations in the oil industry in the 1970s, and to the challenges of collapsing oils price in the 1980s; and concludes in the 21st century when once again nationalizations and concerns about oil supply resurfaced, and how the two parent companies were finally unified.

Based on unrestricted access to Royal Dutch Shell's archives, these beautifully designed and illustrated books provide a unique insight into one of the world's great companies.

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Review:

The latest in a long tradition of corporate chemical histories that include well-received works underwritten by DuPont, Dow, BASF, CIBA, Roche...this three-volume set (plus accompanying appendixes and DVDs) from Royal Dutch Shell is the most comprehensively conceived, researched, written, and elegantly produced of all... As a work of history, it provides a huge service; for those interested in chemistry, geology, engineering, and business, it will likely be a resource second to none; as a set of books, it is truly a work of art and a pleasure to add to any library...Highly recommended. (CHOICE)

About the Author:

Stephen Howarth, an independent full-time author of history since 1979, has 14 major published works on a wide range of subjects. He first came to international attention with his history of the Knights Templar (Collins, 1982, updated and reissued Continuum, 2006) and has made numerous important contributions to international naval history. His corporate histories include The Story of P&O (co-written with David Howarth, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1987), Sea Shell: The Story of Shell's British Tanker Fleets, 1892-1992 ( Thomas Reed, 1992), A Century in Oil: The "Shell" Transport and Trading Company, 1897-1997 (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1997), and Henry Poole, Founders of Savile Row: The Making of a Legend (Bene Factum, 2003). Stephen Howarth is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Joost Jonker is a Lecturer and Researcher at the University of Utrecht. He graduated from the Free University, Amsterdam, and has since specialized in financial and business history. Keetie E. Sluyterman is Professor of Business History at Utrecht University, and senior researcher at the Research Institute for History and Culture at the same university. She has written or jointly authored a large number of commissioned business histories, including Oc�, De Kuyper, Proost and Brandt, CSM, Rabobank, and Hagemeyer. Jan Luiten van Zanden is Professor of Economic and Social History at the University of Utrecht. Van Zenden studied economics and history at the Free University of Amsterdam, received a Ph D from the Agricultural university of Wageningen (in 1985), and has published widely on the economic history of Western Europe and Indonesia.

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