British Petroleum and Global Oil, 1950–1957: The Challenge of Nationalism. By James Bamberg. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Pp. xxviii, 637. $130.00, cloth; $39.95, paper.

Extract

Although scholars have written many good corporate histories, few of these have been good books. History at its best requires an analytical clarity seldom found in traditional corporate history, where all too often the comprehensive coverage of a company's operations over a long period of time overwhelms the narrative focus. James Bamberg's new volume on the history of British Petroleum (BP) is an exception to the rule. Organized around a common theme, and covering a relatively short and cohesive era in which BP studied played a significant role in world history, it is at once an excellent corporate history and a good book.