Oil and American History (The American History Series)

While oil has been around for ages, its use as an energy source really emerged in the West during the mid-nineteenth century, and since then it has had a profound impact on American history. Oil and American History will incorporate oil into the story of American history, highlighting its transformative role, but not just the role of particularly powerful men and not just through the power of the state. Oil and American History is imagined as a brief primer that outlines the central role oil has had on American social, cultural, political, economic, and diplomatic development in the last century and a half.