Jaw-dropping, deftly erudite, witty, shocking, outrageous . . . an extraordinary retelling of how energy changed—and continues to change—the deepest structures of the world, war, and nations.” —RORY STEWART, author of Politics on the Edge.

“A masterpiece: Delves Broughton is the most evocative nonfiction writer of our time. Here is the hawk-eyed King Faisal, seated at dinner with a hooded falcon, mimicking the bird’s piercing screech as he throws it meat from his table . . .and in Washington, Henry Kissinger, soothing and schmoozing Liza Minnelli an hour before Faisal turns off the oil. Sand, gold, and treachery—this book made me feel a century turn.” —SEBASTIAN MALLABY, author of The Infinity Machine.

“The 1973 Arab oil embargo was a profound turning point in the modern age and it has at last found its worthy chronicler. Through prodigious research and a novelist’s eye for the intriguing detail, Delves Broughton takes his reader into the conference rooms and desert tents where strategies were devised and deals cut to produce the greatest transfer of wealth in human history. Readers will gain a fascinating education . . . and have a rollicking good time in the process.” —SCOTT ANDERSON, author of King of Kings.

“Gripping and insightful, Embargo is a must-read to understand not just the 1973 oil crisis, but every energy shock that has followed since - including the 2026 US-Iran war for the control of the Strait of Hormuz.” —JAVIER BLAS, co-author of The World for Sale

“Embargo is the best book on oil politics I’ve read. It’s totally absorbing.” —JAMES BARR, author of A Line in the Sand

“Philip Delves Broughton has turned the birth of the modern petrostate into a thriller - specific, cinematic, and completely impossible to put down. Embargo is the book that explains how the world we live in was actually made.” —BRADLEY HOPE, co-author of Billion Dollar Whale and Blood and Oil