This book is a major contribution to the history of energy politics in Latin America, and is quite useful in understanding current energy policy in the hemisphere. The editor covers the origins of energy policy. There are chapters on Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela. Equally important is a piece on the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey (now Exxon), as well as a chapter on the state petroleum enterprises. The introduction is a gem, and the statistics at the end of the book can serve many purposes.
The research is solidly grounded in extensive bibliographies, including a large number of documents, some of which had not been used previously. This is a major contribution to a topic of ceaseless importance to the world in general, and particularly the Western Hemisphere, where energy deposits of several kinds have been ample in the past, and countries must face the question of how to use them appropriately. There are few volumes that can be compared to this one in terms of the blending of history and recent policies dealing with state enterprises in the field of energy in Latin America.
The book is exceedingly well written in general, and makes for charming reading into the late evening. It is certainly recommended for a wide readership in the fields of energy, public policy, the economics of the firm, and those interested in Latin American history. In sum, this is an important contribution to several fields within the history of energy policy, an important aspect in the political and economic development of Latin America—the former now well attained, and the latter yet to be entirely fulfilled.
