Includes bibliographical references (p. 287-294)

The world is about to change dramatically and permenantly as a result of oil depletion.Within the next few years, the global production of oil will peak. Thereafter, even with a switch to alternative energy sources, industrial societies will have less energy available to do all the things essential to their survival. W e ar entering a new era as different from industrial one as the latter was from mediaeval times. The Party's Over deals head-on with the imminent decline of cheap oil. It shows how oil and war have been closely related for the past century, and how competition to control oil supplies is likely to lead to a new resource wars in the Middle East, Central Asia, and South America. Tracing the crucial role of fossil fuels in the rise of inustrialism, Heinberg discusses the degree to which energy alternatives can compensate for oil, and recommends: a managed transition to a slower-paced, low-energy, sustainable society in the future; a global programme of resource conservation and sharing implemented by the US-the world's foremost oil consumer and most the most mightily armed nation in world history in concert with other countries; and realistic ways for families, communities, nationa, and the world to prepare for the coming crisis.