van Zanden, Jan Luiten; Jonker, Joost ; Howarth, Stephen; Sluyterman, Keetie (Hrsg.): A History of Royal Dutch Shell. Vol. 1: From Challenger to Joint Industry Leader, 1890-1939: A History of Royal Dutch Shell. New York: Oxford University Press 2007. ISBN 978-0-19-929878-5; 566 S.; EUR 141,90.
van Zanden, Jan Luiten; Jonker, Joost ; Howarth, Stephen; Sluyterman, Keetie (Hrsg.): A History of Royal Dutch Shell. Vol. 2: Powering the Hydrocarbon Revolution, 1939-1973: A History of Royal Dutch Shell. New York: Oxford University Press 2007. ISBN 978-0-19-929879-2; 514 S..
van Zanden, Jan Luiten; Jonker, Joost ; Howarth, Stephen; Sluyterman, Keetie (Hrsg.): A History of Royal Dutch Shell. Vol. 3: Keeping Competitive in Turbulen Markets, 1973-2007: A History of Royal Dutch Shell. New York: Oxford University Press 2007. ISBN 978-0-19-923440-0; 514 S..
van Zanden, Jan Luiten (Hrsg.): A History of Royal Dutch Shell. Appendices: Figures and Explanations, Collective Bibliography, and Index, Including three DVDs. New York: Oxford University Press 2007. ISBN 978-0-19-923440-0; 144 S..
Rezensiert für geschichte.transnational und H-Soz-u-Kult von:
Tyler Priest, C.T. Bauer College of Business, University of Houston
E-Mail: [mailto]tpriest@uh.edu[/mailto]
Weighing nine kilograms (20 lbs.) and consisting of more than 1,800 pages, this four-volume History of Royal Dutch Shell literally stands as a monument to oil. Published to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the 1907 combination between Royal Dutch Petroleum and Shell Transport and Trading Company, the sheer physical magnitude of the production is matched by its scholarly achievement. Under sponsorship by Royal Dutch Shell, a team of four historians associated with Utrecht University have compiled and interpreted an exhaustive amount of documentation - archival, photographic, and moving picture - to give us perhaps the most comprehensive and balanced account possible of one of the towering giants in the petroleum industry. This is a rare achievement during an age (especially in the United States) when sponsored efforts to examine an organization's history, "warts and all," tend to get compromised or killed.[1]
Simply clutching and reading this production is challenging. It is not made to curl up with in an easy chair or to rest on your bedside table. The narrative is dense with analytical sophistication and heavy with discussions about the intricacies of corporate finance and organization. The three main volumes include more than 1,000 brilliant photos, maps, and illustrations, some of which unfold into four-page panoramic displays. Each volume is accompanied by its own DVD, complete with a documentary video, historical films ("Pearls from the Archives"), and a slide show of photographic images. This series is an imposing presence for both scholars and average readers.
Royal Dutch Shell is a sprawling industrial empire with a rich and varied history. Already by 1935, the "Group," as it was commonly known, employed 180,000 people worldwide. It was formed through a famous alliance in 1907, in which Royal Dutch Petroleum, led by the brilliant but autocratic Henri Deterding, united its interests with Marcus Samuel's Shell Transport and Trading Company. "From Opposite Ends Toward a Common Purpose," according to the first chapter of volume one, Royal Dutch Petroleum claimed a 60:40 advantage in the alliance and control over management, but the combined entity always presented itself as British, adopting the Shell brand and logo for its worldwide products and operations. Both Royal Dutch and Shell became holding companies for the three basic operating companies: N.V. De Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij, the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company, and the Asiatic Petroleum Company. Each of these companies and their subsidiaries was a legal entity, together loosely comprising the Royal Dutch/Shell Group, even though the Group itself did not exist in law anywhere in the world.