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The Boom: Oil, Popular Culture, and Politics in Alberta, 1912-1924
When the Calgary Petroleum Products's Dingman No. 1 Well began operation in Turner Valley on May 14, 1914, it unleashed a spectacular frenzy of greed and excess. In a fever of free-market capitalism over 500 oil companies were created, selling fortunes on paper to eager investors. But fewer than fifty ever drilled for oil, and the Alberta oil industry suddenly began to look like one big swindle.
The public, and investors, demanded answers. Enter George Edward Buck, a charismatic revival preacher and self-proclaimed oil tycoon who made himself and his company the centre of every conversation while he salted his wells and misled investors. Far from the only person to profit from the sensational publicity of the Turner Valley Boom, Buck became the public face of all unscrupulous businessmen and an international scapegoat to preserve the integrity of Alberta oil.
The Boom is a history of the Turner Valley era that rescues the miscreants and charlatans from obscurity. Industry historian Paul Chastko returns the larger-than-life promoters, wildcatters and oil evangelists to the story. He shows the ways that Albertans, determined to overcome the obstacles of economics, geography, geology, and the market, made a conscious choice to pursue petroleum development and created an oil culture that continues to this day.
The public, and investors, demanded answers. Enter George Edward Buck, a charismatic revival preacher and self-proclaimed oil tycoon who made himself and his company the centre of every conversation while he salted his wells and misled investors. Far from the only person to profit from the sensational publicity of the Turner Valley Boom, Buck became the public face of all unscrupulous businessmen and an international scapegoat to preserve the integrity of Alberta oil.
The Boom is a history of the Turner Valley era that rescues the miscreants and charlatans from obscurity. Industry historian Paul Chastko returns the larger-than-life promoters, wildcatters and oil evangelists to the story. He shows the ways that Albertans, determined to overcome the obstacles of economics, geography, geology, and the market, made a conscious choice to pursue petroleum development and created an oil culture that continues to this day.
508 pages, Hardcover
Published December 10, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 24, 2026
“The Boom: Oil, Popular Culture, and Politics in Alberta, 1912–1924 is a vivid, ambitious, and deeply engaging history that captures the chaos, spectacle, greed, and cultural transformation surrounding Alberta’s first great oil boom. Paul Chastko brilliantly reconstructs the feverish atmosphere unleashed by the discovery at Turner Valley, revealing how petroleum speculation became not merely an economic phenomenon, but a defining cultural force that reshaped Alberta’s identity, politics, and relationship to capitalism itself. The result is a work that feels both historically immersive and strikingly relevant to modern conversations surrounding energy, finance, and resource culture.”
“What stood out most was the book’s ability to humanize the larger-than-life personalities who drove the boom while simultaneously exposing the structural forces that allowed speculation and mythmaking to flourish. Chastko’s portrait of George Edward Buck is especially compelling—a charismatic preacher, promoter, and opportunist who embodied both the dreams and dangers of unregulated oil speculation. Rather than reducing the era to simple fraud or greed alone, the book demonstrates how optimism, desperation, ambition, and frontier mythology combined to create a uniquely volatile oil culture that continues influencing Alberta and the wider energy industry today. The exploration of how media sensationalism, popular culture, politics, and public perception interacted with the oil economy gives the narrative remarkable depth and momentum. I also appreciated how the book situates Alberta’s petroleum identity within broader North American ideas surrounding capitalism, boosterism, and resource extraction. Rich with historical detail yet highly readable throughout, The Boom succeeds as both a compelling narrative history and a thoughtful examination of how economic manias shape collective identity and political culture.”
“What stood out most was the book’s ability to humanize the larger-than-life personalities who drove the boom while simultaneously exposing the structural forces that allowed speculation and mythmaking to flourish. Chastko’s portrait of George Edward Buck is especially compelling—a charismatic preacher, promoter, and opportunist who embodied both the dreams and dangers of unregulated oil speculation. Rather than reducing the era to simple fraud or greed alone, the book demonstrates how optimism, desperation, ambition, and frontier mythology combined to create a uniquely volatile oil culture that continues influencing Alberta and the wider energy industry today. The exploration of how media sensationalism, popular culture, politics, and public perception interacted with the oil economy gives the narrative remarkable depth and momentum. I also appreciated how the book situates Alberta’s petroleum identity within broader North American ideas surrounding capitalism, boosterism, and resource extraction. Rich with historical detail yet highly readable throughout, The Boom succeeds as both a compelling narrative history and a thoughtful examination of how economic manias shape collective identity and political culture.”
April 2, 2026
Fascinating. I was gifted a copy of this book and didn't really know what to expect. As a Western Canadian, I had some faint ideas about the history and impact of oil in Alberta, but not much more than a passing thought. The stories explored in this book are engaging, interesting, and honestly bring the history to life. What struck me the most is how much of what occurred seems to still occur today. The backstabbing, the lying, and the hard working people caught in the middle of it.
Chastko's writing is fluid, organized, and engaging, which made this a pleasure to read. This is easily the best book about the history of oil in Alberta I've ever read.
Chastko's writing is fluid, organized, and engaging, which made this a pleasure to read. This is easily the best book about the history of oil in Alberta I've ever read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews