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A Question of Power

Electricity and the Wealth of Nations

A Question of Power Open the full-size image

Contributors

By Robert Bryce

Formats and Prices

On Sale
May 16, 2023
Page Count
368 pages
Publisher
PublicAffairs
ISBN-13
9781541736054

Price

$21.99

Price

$28.99 CAD

Format

Format:

  1. Trade Paperback $21.99 $28.99 CAD
  2. ebook $11.99 $15.99 CAD
  3. Audiobook Download (Unabridged)

This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around May 16, 2023. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.

Buy from Other Retailers:

An “informative and highly readable” (Foreign Affairs) breakdown of the history of electricity and the impact of global energy use on the world and the environment

Global demand for power is doubling every two decades, but electricity remains one of the most difficult forms of energy to supply and do so reliably. Today, some three billion people live in places where per-capita electricity use is less than what’s used by an average American refrigerator. How we close the colossal gap between the electricity rich and the electricity poor will determine our success in addressing issues like women’s rights, inequality, and climate change.
In A Question of Power, veteran journalist Robert Bryce tells the human story of electricity, the world’s most important form of energy. Through onsite reporting from India, Iceland, Lebanon, Puerto Rico, New York, and Colorado, he shows how our cities, our money—our very lives—depend on reliable flows of electricity. He highlights the factors needed for successful electrification and explains why so many people are still stuck in the dark.
With vivid writing and incisive analysis, he powerfully debunks the notion that our energy needs can be met solely with renewables and demonstrates why–if we are serious about addressing climate change–nuclear energy must play a much bigger role.
Electricity has fueled a new epoch in the history of civilization. A Question of Power explains how that happened and what it means for our future.

Genre:

  • "Informative and highly readable"
    Foreign Affairs
  • “Energy is our primary defense against poverty, disorder, hunger, and death. Meeting soaring global demand for abundant, affordable, and clean electricity is among the greatest challenges of the twenty-first century. In this book, energy analyst Robert Bryce provides an engaging and rational analysis of a topic that is both fascinating and timely.”
    Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of Enlightenment Now
  • “Electricity is essential today and fundamental to the future. Nobody understands or explains this better than Robert Bryce, as he chronicles the ingenious technologies that both generate and consume electricity to make modern society work. Fluently told, jam-packed with fascinating facts, and unflinching in its honesty, this book should be read by everybody who cares about energy.”
    Matt Ridley, author of The Rational Optimist and How Innovation Works
  • "Shocking revelations about electricity.... A robust look at where the juice flows around the planet-and its planetary implications."
    Kirkus Reviews
  • "Of all the aspects of modern life in the developed world, flipping a switch and having the lights come on ranks as one of the most underrated. It's good to be reminded, as Bryce does through powerful examples, that such convenience was unheard of until the late nineteenth century...In this wide-ranging history of electricity, power expert Bryce takes readers beyond the table lamp and microwave to demonstrate how crucial safe, dependable, and plentiful electricity is to a host of contemporary innovations, from cryptocurrency mining to marijuana cultivation."
    Booklist

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Robert Bryce

About the Author

Robert Bryce is the acclaimed author of five previous books, including Smaller, Faster, Lighter, Denser, Cheaper: How Innovation Keeps Proving the Catastrophists Wrong, and Power Hungry: The Myths of “Green” Energy and the Real Fuels of the Future. His articles have appeared in numerous publications, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Austin Chronicle, Guardian, and National Review. He has given over 300 invited or keynote lectures to groups ranging from the Marine Corps War College to the Sydney Institute and has appeared on dozens of media outlets ranging from Fox News to Al Jazeera. Bryce  is also the producer of a new feature-length documentary, Juice: How Electricity Explains the World. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Lorin.

Learn more about this author