Javier Blas and Jack Farchy are two of the world's best-known journalists covering energy, commodities and trading houses. They both work for Bloomberg News, where Blas is chief energy correspondent and Farchy is a senior reporter covering natural resources. Previously, they covered commodities for the Financial Times.
This jaw-dropping study shows how much money and global influence
is concentrated in the hands of a tiny group . . . A remarkable
book . . . As the authors roam from oilfield to wheatfield, they
reveal information so staggering you almost gasp . . . The colour
is fantastic . . . Tracking down some of the biggest names in the
business to their German castles and stud farms and persuading them
to talk is a rare scoop.
*Sunday Times*
A fascinating and revealing story . . . There are tales in the book
of breathtaking trades, such as shipments of rebel oil from
war-torn Libya or deals bartered amid the brutal "aluminium wars"
in the Russia of the 1990s . . . A gripping book.
*Economist*
Javier Blas and Jack Farchy probe the hard-knuckle and secretive
world of commodity trading.
*Financial Times*
A globe-spanning corporate thriller, full of intrigue and double
dealing . . . Changes how we see the world, often in horrifying
ways . . . The book weaves together years of reporting experience
in the field with access to many of the key figures in an industry
dominated by huge characters . . . New insights and reporting mean
that even seasoned observers will be amazed.
*Spectator*
Anecdotally rich . . . A highly readable study in world economics
and a valuable primer for would-be oil barons.
*Kirkus*
Blas and Farchy compellingly lay out how a handful of secretive
traders have had a hand in directing not only the world's
commodities, but also its politics and history. The World for Sale
draws back the covers on a sector where civil wars, dubious regimes
and the collapse of states have often been just another business
opportunity - and what that has meant for the rest of us.
Intriguing and, at times, alarming.
*Helen Thomas, Business Editor, BBC Newsnight*
A colorful and alarming exposé of the shadowy world of global
commodity trading . . . Hair-raising anecdotes . . . An engrossing
look at an obscure yet consequential corner of the financial
world.
*Publishers Weekly*
A virtuoso depiction of the globe's top oil, food and metals
traders . . . Javier Blas and Jack Farchy should be awaiting the
call from Hollywood. The World for Sale contains at least half a
dozen narrative threads that would form the basis of a good
thriller. But the authors' main achievement is to subject the
biggest commodity players, and their impact on the real world, to
proper critical scrutiny . . . The depth of the reporting by the
Bloomberg journalists, who previously worked for the Financial
Times, is impressive . . . Fascinating.
*Reuters*
Some of the stories beggar belief . . . A fascinating story, it's
just incredible some of the routes that the money takes.
*BBC Newsday*
Could there be a better moment for Javier Blas and Jack Farchy's
rollicking new account of those markets' recent history to land on
investors' desks? . . . A rich archive of ripping yarns . . . . . .
The high level narrative is gripping enough. But it is the details
of what these freewheeling companies actually got up to that give
the book a thriller-like quality . . . Educational and
entertaining.
*Financial Times*
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