The Prize
The Prize by Daniel Yerginby Daniel Yergin
Shares rank 18 of 51 history books by recommenders
Recommended as the go-to history of the worldwide oil and gas industry, praised for clear explanations of its strategy and the scheming behind it.
Recommended as the go-to history of the worldwide oil and gas industry, praised for clear explanations of its strategy and the scheming behind it.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Go-to history of the oil industry
“the goto history of oil & gas industry worldwide”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “When oil prices spike, where does the money go?” Clear explanation of strategic structure
“The book does an amazing job of explaining the strategic structure of WWII in a simple and clear and way.”
Comment from 1 May 2026 in “How an Oil Refinery Works” Vivid account of industry scheming
“Scheming features prominently to say the least.”
Comment from 24 Aug 2026 in “My favorite nonfiction books about cults, scams, and schemes” Called an excellent book
“The post you're responding to quotes "The Prize" (an excellent book)”
Comment from 26 May 2026 in “Uber, Lyft drivers in Massachusetts form first US ride-share union”
Other history books people recommend
The four most recommended other history books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Dawn of Everythingby David Graeber and David Wengrow | 23 | 5 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Cadillac Desertby Marc Reisner | 18 | 0 | 100% | 11 | — | Approved |
| The Boxby Marc Levinson | 16 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Sapiensby Yuval Noah Harari | 13 | 9 | 59% | 8 | — | — |
| The Prizeby Daniel YerginThis page | 5 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
4 of the 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“the goto history of oil & gas industry worldwide”
“Scheming features prominently to say the least.”
“The post you're responding to quotes "The Prize" (an excellent book)”
“The book does an amazing job of explaining the strategic structure of WWII in a simple and clear and way.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.