Make no mistake, this book is not a small undertaking. The density of information, whilst impressive, is tiring. I found it best to read in chunks, between other books. Fortunately, each chapter stands alone rather well, whilst still bringing the complex threads of the ExxonMobil (post Exxon Valdez) story together in a cogent manner. It took a while to read through it in this way, but I don't think the experience suffered for it.

Steve Coll brings a very high level of journalistic expertise to the table and it shows. This book is astonishingly well researched, pretty much every assertion made is backed up with citations from sources such as interviews carried out specifically for this book, FOIA requests and Wikileaks cables. Coll maintains a relatively objective voice throughout as well, something I wasn't expecting so much. I was anticipating something rather more overtly damning than is presented, though there can be no doubt as to the conclusions Coll expects you to draw, both in relation to 'Big Oil' generally and ExxonValdez in particular. This book is a fascinating insight into that world and it's machinations. Recommended for those with the interest and patience to stick it out. ( )

With a father who spent nearly his entire career at ExxonMobil, obviously my youth and upbringing have been influenced in small or larger ways by this "private empire". This me buying and reading the book. Of course, also the author's name instilled justified interest.

I only read part one, however.

This is undeniably a thorough investigation into a notoriously closed corporation and well written as such. Still, I could never shed the feeling that I was just reading a very long, and ultimately to me boring, newspaper article. So I left it at that. ( )

An outstanding, riveting, and (surprisingly) nonpartisan account of the world's most powerful corporation. The author does an excellent job of describing the extent of that power, which operates on a scale that can otherwise be difficult to imagine. Seriously, you have no idea.

Also an oddly enjoyable read, in that Coll litters his account with colorful, memorable anecdotes.

Recommended for anyone remotely interested in current affairs, global politics and/or environmentalism. ( )

This is an impressive, if depressing, book. Journalist Steve Coll has done exhaustive work painting a comprehensive picture of the policies, actions and operating philosophies of one of the largest, and most ubiquitous, corporations in the world, covering the years from the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska through the disastrous explosion of BP's floating oil rig out in the Gulf of Mexico. Coll tells the story through a series of mostly individual stories of ExxonMobil's dealings in African countries like Chad and Equatorial Guinea as they negotiate with repressive dictators while dealing with issues of security against insurgents in their own compounds and doing their best to ignore the horrific social conditions they see around them. We read of the corporation's years-long stubborn refusal to acknowledge the problem of climate change, and in fact see create purposefully disingenuous studies designed to confuse the issue and delay social/government action. We see them go their own way, sometimes at cross purposes with American diplomatic policy, often arrogantly declaring themselves a global corporation not tied to the U.S. government in terms of aims or policies, and then just as quickly lobbying for government support when such support is deemed necessary to enhance corporate goals. Those are just a few examples. In sum, one arrives at a relatively nuanced picture of what this corporate behemoth is capable of. That cuts both ways, in fact, as Coll also points out positive developments, such as the company's eventual acknowledgment of global warming (under new corporate leadership) and support for the idea of a carbon tax to help cut emissions. The book is well written and makes for smooth reading. At 642 pages, reading this book represents a considerable time commitment, but I believe it's a worthwhile endeavor. I feel like I gained not just a realistic picture of ExxonMobil, but of the oil industry as a whole, and how that industry fits into and affects global economy and politics. ( )

This engaging book looks at corporate giant ExxonMobil from the Valdez disaster in 1989 to the BP's Deep Water Horizon disaster in 2010. Valdez dumped 257,000 barrels of oil into Prince William Sound and changed ExxonMobil corporate culture to emphasize safery. Deep Water Horizon dumped 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. BP was a chronic safety abuser, but both companies used the same emergency boiler plate strategies, and both companies deny the long term effects of their oil operations on the environment. Steve Coll takes us all around the world to see the power and the effect of ExxonMobil. He takes us to places I never heard of like the Aceh Peninsula of Indonasia, where Exxon developed it own strategy to deal with rebels that kept the oil flowing, to places I was only dimly aware of like Equatorial Guinea, where Exxon provided the security to dictator Obiang that kept its oil protected. If you want get a comprehensive picture of a company that makes upwards of 39 billion dollars a year profit on revenues of 493 billion read this book. The private power of ExxonMobil, which is more powerful than many countries, and in some places on the globe more than the USA will startle you. ( )