Dilip Hiro

Born in the Indian sub-continent, Dilip Hiro was educated in India, Britain and America, where he received a Master's degree at Virginia Polytechnic & State University. He then settled in London in the mid-1960s, and became a full-time writer, journalist and commentator. He has published 30 books and contributed to another 13. He is the editor of Babur Nama: Journal of Emperor Babur, a world classic, completed in 1530. He has also written scripts for theatre, television drama and cinema.

His books include
WAR WITHOUT END: THE RISE OF ISLAMIST TERRORISM AND GLOBAL RESPONSE; THE ROUGH GUIDE CHRONICLE: INDIA; SHARING THE PROMISED LAND: A TALE OF ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS; DICTIONARY OF THE MIDDLE EAST; BETWEEN MARX AND MUHAMMAD: THE CHANGING FACE OF CENTRAL ASIA; BLACK BRITISH, WHITE BRITISH; HOLY WARS: THE RISE OF ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM; THREE PLAYS; INSIDE INDIA TODAY; IRAN TODAY; THE BLOOD OF THE EARTH; and A TRIANGULAR VIEW (novel).

His articles on the Middle East, Islamic affairs, and South and Central Asia have appeared in such European and North American publications as the Observer, Guardian, Sunday Times, The Times, Independent on Sunday, International Herald Tribune, New Statesman, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Nation, Boston Globe, and Toronto Star.

He is a frequent commentator on the Middle Eastern, Central Asian and Islamic affairs on various radio and television channels based in America, Australia, Austria, Britain, Canada, France, Ireland and the Vatican. These include ABC (of Australia), ABC Network (USA), Al Jazeera (Arabic), Al Jazeera (English) TV, American Public Radio, BBC Radio and Television, BBC News 24, BBC World Service Radio, BBC World (satellite),CBC (Canada), CBS Network (USA), Channel 4 (UK), Channel 5 (UK), CNN (satellite), CNN-Turk, C-SPAN TV (USA), Democracy Now TV (USA), Fox News Channel (USA), GloboTV (Brazil), GMTV, MSNBC TV (USA), National Public Radio (USA), NBC TV (USA), ORF (Austria), Pacifica Radio Network (USA), Press TV, Radio France International (France), RTE (Ireland), Sky TV (satellite), and the Vatican Radio.

‘If every Chinese family acquires a scooter, we will have a severe oil crisis.’ So said Lord Browne, the Chief Executive Officer of British Petroleum, in 1995.

Since then the Chinese have skipped the scooter phase and are rushing into the automobile age. In 2003, car sales in China rose by 70 per cent. The following year the number of cars in Shanghai crossed the two million mark.

Though India and China account for 40 per cent of the global population, at present they are burning only 12 per cent of the world’s oil. By contrast, the United States, home to barely five per cent of humanity, is consuming twice as much as India and China combined.

This important book examines the history and future of oil.