FROM THE PUBLISHER

“With his classics of social commentary The Geography of Nowhere and Home from Nowhere, James Howard Kunstler has established himself as one of the great commentators on American space and place. Now, with The Long Emergency, he offers a shocking vision of a post-oil future. As a result of artificially cheap fossil-fuel energy, we have developed global models of industry, commerce, food production, and finance over the last 200 years. But the oil age, which peaked in 1970, is at an end. The depletion of nonrenewable fossil fuels is about to radically change life as we know it, and much sooner than we think. The Long Emergency tells us just what to expect after the honeymoon of affordable energy is over, preparing us for economic, political, and social changes of an unimaginable scale.

Riveting and authoritative, The Long Emergency is a devastating indictment that brings new urgency and accessibility to the critical issues that will shape our future, and that we can no longer afford to ignore. It is bound to become a classic of social science.”

FROM THE WASHINGTON POST

“It used to be that only environmentalists and paranoids warned about the world running out of oil and the future it could bring: crashing economies, resource wars, social breakdown, agony at the pump. Not anymore ... America’s dependence on oil is too pervasive to undo quickly, [Kunstler] warns. ... In the meantime, we’ll have our hands full dealing with ... the soaring temperatures, rising sea levels and mega-droughts brought by global climate change. Not long ago, a Jeremiah like Kunstler would have been dismissed as a kook ... As brilliant as it is baleful ... and we disregard it at our peril.”
—The Washington Post

FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES

“An especial strength of this book is its break with some of the more pernicious strands in the contemporary left, specifically the left’s kneejerk rejection of America acting militarily in its national interest. ... There are hints of Malthus here, and of Oswald Spangler’s Decline of the West as well. Mr. Kunstler’s book is a jeremiad, driven by authorial presence. Pithy, entertaining descriptions of historical phenomena like the Soviet Union ... enliven the text, allowing the veteran commentator to expound on themes that might read leaden by a less facile wordsmith. ... The book succeeds as an accessible primer to a looming crisis that could end the American way of life.”
—A.G. Gancarski, Washington Times

FROM THE AMERICAN SCIENTIST

“What sets The Long Emergency apart from numerous other books on this theme is its comprehensive sweep—its powerful integration of science, technology, economics, finance, international politics and social change—along with a fascinating attempt to peer into a chaotic future. And Kunstler is such a compelling, fast-paced and sometimes eloquent writer that the book is hard to put down.”
—David Ehrenfeld

FROM THE TECHNOLOGY REVIEW.COM

“Adds a relentless, scary, and entertaining voice to the rising alarm about life after the cheap oil is gone. ... The internal logic of the argument is persuasive, and one reads ... the book with white knuckles.”
—Bryant Urstadt, TechnologyReview.com

FROM THE INDEPENDENT (U.K.)

“If you give a damn, you should read this book.”
—Colin Tudge, The Independent (UK)

FROM THE SIERRA ATLANTIC

“A shrewd and engaging social commentator.”
—Sierra Atlantic

View the Op-ed ad as it appeared in New York Times, Monday,
May 8, 2006

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