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Oil in Texas: The Gusher Age, 1895-1945. By Diana Davids Olien and Roger M. Olien. Clifton and Shirley Caldwell Texas Heritage Series, No. 3. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2002. Pp. [xii], 307. $39.95, ISBN 0-292-76056-6.)
Diana Davids Olien and Roger M. Olien's latest book provides an overview of the development and impact of the oil industry in Texas before 1945. The authors organize the book chronologically but wisely treat each diverse region of Texas independently. They also work in a lively exchange with past writers on Texas oil and ask questions about the relationship between oil and urbanization and the evolution of politics and regulation. In particular, the Oliens argue that far from being victims of a colonial economy, Texans "exploited outside capitalists and ended up the richer for it" (p. x).
Much of the book is organized around the discovery of new fields, for the authors insist that "other significant aspects of the industry-the operation of business circles, the increasing importance of science...