Carl-Henry Geschwind

Carl-Henry Geschwind, PhD, is the author of California Earthquakes: Science, Risk, and the Politics of Hazard Mitigation (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001). An independent scholar based in Washington, DC, he has just completed a book-length history of the gasoline tax during the 20th century that compares the experiences in Germany, Great Britain, New Zealand, and the United States.

Posts by Carl-Henry Geschwind

Page by Page: Book Reviews, Reviews

Fueling the American Decline

In the story of the 1970s’ energy criris, historians have so far acknowledged the twin oil shocks of 1973 and 1979 as important events during the decade, but have not made them central to their analysis. Now Meg Jacobs argues that the politics of energy was in fact critical, as “the failure of the nation’s politicians to address the energy crisis contributed to the erosion of faith that Americans had in their government to solve their problems.”