A single narrow waterway links the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, and through it passes roughly a fifth of the world's oil and a large share of its liquefied natural gas. The Strait of Hormuz tells the hundred-year story of this chokepoint-from the rise of Persian Gulf oil and the Tanker War of the 1980s to modern sanctions regimes, naval standoffs, and the Israel-Iran and U.S.-Iran confrontations of the present day.

Its central argument is that Hormuz is far more than a maritime passage: it is a lens through which the evolution of energy, economics, military power, sanctions, and globalization itself can be understood. Pairing vivid historical narrative with rigorous strategic analysis, it delivers an authoritative account for policymakers, professionals, and general readers alike.