The Commanding Heights: The Battle Between Government and the Marketplace That Is Remaking the Modern World [Signed with TLS to William Safire]

New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998. Very Good/Very Good. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998. First Edition. Signed by author Yergin on front free endpaper to William Safire with inscription, "With admiration and / respect - and appreciation / for the good sense of / originality you bring / to our national life, / best wishes, / Daniel Yergin."

Octavo; 457 pages. Printed dust jacket with original $26.00 price; book in white paper-covered boards with black paper spine and gilt lettering. Jacket lightly creased at spine ends, but with no chips or tears. Boards show a touch of wear along edges. A couple pages dog-eared.

Two typed letters signed on Cambridge Energy Research Associates stationery from Yergin to Safire. The first is dated January 5, 1998, and reads, "I was glad to see you at the dinner for the President of Kazakstan [sic]. Over the years, we've talked about oil. But "The Commanding Heights"... isn't about oil, or even tankers! It is, however, very much about a body of ideas that have concerned and interested me for a long time..." Yergin concludes by wishing him a Happy New Year.

The second letter is dated June 2, 1998, and begins with a paragraph concerning "emerging markets," "submerging markets," and their respective volatility.

Yergin continues, "Now, as to this matter of Exceedingly Long Book Subtitles, two thoughts: First, Mr. / Agmatael, author of Emerging Securities Markets, reminded me that his book also / had a very long subtitle, but not did sell. So we first need to find some other predictive / model. Subtle alliteration? Second I noted that my editor at Simon & Schuster, no / doubt responding to the length, started calling the subtitle a "reading line" -- although, / admittedly, it is actually several lines. / Anyway, as a great fan of "On Language," I was very happy to be part of it and do way to say thanks."

Promotional card for the ARC of "Commanding Heights" also laid in, with some pen annotations that appear to be in Safire's hand, referencing various words and phrases in the book.

In his book, "No Uncertain Terms," Safire dissects the etymology of the term "globality" and debunks the idea that Yergin had coined it.