Human Rights

Books About Shell

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Books About Shell: An Expanded Bibliography

Introduction

Royal Dutch Shell, now Shell plc, has generated an unusually large body of literature stretching from official corporate histories and executive memoirs to academic studies, environmental investigations, human-rights accounts and books written by people directly involved in disputes with the company.

The bibliography below includes:

histories commissioned or published by Shell;
independent corporate histories;
biographies of important Shell figures;
books about particular Shell businesses and projects;
books concerning Nigeria, Ogoni and Ken Saro-Wiwa;
books about Brent Spar and Corrib;
studies of Shell’s celebrated scenario-planning system;
broader histories of the international oil industry in which Shell is a significant subject;
and Amazon Kindle books by John Donovan concerning his long-running relationship with Shell.

The descriptions below are original summaries rather than reproductions of publishers’ copyrighted descriptions.

Early Royal Dutch and Shell Histories

1934

An International Oil Man

Author: Sir Henri Deterding, as told to Stanley Naylor
Format: Print read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan - more information here. There is also a Wikipedia segment, the Shell DPA Files, "Shell and the Spies", the Shell Leaks files, as well as books written and published by John Donovan - Kindle eBooks. Timeline of the Donovan Shell Feud. Toxic History of Royal Dutch Shell Group. Shell and the Donovans: The Full Media Record — 550+ Articles, 110 Books, 40 Years.

COMING TOMORROW: Inside the Shell Nigeria Files

Aug 12th, 2026

by John Donovan.

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A new daily investigation into the documents behind the battle over Shell, oil pollution and accountability in the Niger Delta

Tomorrow we begin something substantial.

Over the coming days and weeks, we will be examining a remarkable collection of documents concerning Shell’s operations in Nigeria, oil pollution in the Niger Delta, pipeline integrity, oil theft, environmental damage and what senior personnel inside the company knew about the problems confronting its operations.

And we intend to examine them one story at a time.

Not with slogans.

Not by pretending allegations are proven facts.

And not by accepting corporate explanations without examining the documentary record behind them. read more

Shell Spy Games: Big Oil’s Cloak-and-Dagger Circus Comes for the Donovans

Jun 28th, 2026

by John Donovan.

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By John Donovan

A combined and satirical rewrite of three John Donovan archive chapters on Shell corporate espionage, later cyber-monitoring activity, and the sensitive Shell issues that may have kept the corporate-security boiler room bubbling.

Source chapters: Chapter 5: Shell corporate espionage in the run-up to the Smart trial, Chapter 12: Shell corporate espionage in more recent years, and Chapter 13: What prompted the more recent sinister activity?.

Chapter 5 screenshot exhibit concerning Shell corporate espionage — **From the source archive: Chapter 5, on Shell corporate espionage before the SMART trial.**

There are oil companies, and then there is Shell: part energy giant, part legal steamroller, part international archive of “how did that memo get out?” moments. According to the Donovan archive, when Shell found itself facing criticism, litigation and leaks, the response was not always limited to sober correspondence on heavy paper. No, this was Shell in spy-thriller mode: lawyers, private investigators, corporate intelligence firms, redacted emails, “legally privileged” battle-plans and enough cloak-and-dagger atmosphere to make a boardroom smell faintly of raincoats. read more

The Dark Side of Shell: Shell, Deterding, and Nazi Germany by John Donovan

Jun 3rd, 2026

by John Donovan.

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The Dark Side of Shell: Shell, Deterding, and Nazi Germany by John Donovan

This is an online reference edition of a historical investigation into Shell, its long-time leader Sir Henri Deterding, and their connections to Nazi Germany. darksideofshell

The Central Argument

The book’s central case is that Deterding, and at times Shell itself through its German operations and decisions taken at group level, provided material and financial support that helped sustain Hitler’s movement and later the Nazi state. darksideofshell read more

EXCLUSIVE: SHELL SHOCK! THE BRAND SO TOXIC EVEN THE SPIN DOCTORS NEED HAZMAT SUITS

May 17th, 2026

by John Donovan.

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Can the world’s most comprehensive corporate crime scene be polished back to respectability? Our outspoken correspondent investigates. Spoiler: No.

The audacity. The sheer, brass-necked, gas-flaring, dividend-pumping audacity of it.

John Donovan — Shell shareholder, Shell nemesis, and the man Shell would most like to fall down a very deep offshore well — has lobbed the ultimate grenade into the reputation management industry. He has challenged ReputationDefender to defend Shell plc: a company whose historical file is so thick, so heavy, and so radioactive that it requires its own safety rating before being approached by researchers. read more

THE GRONINGEN BETRAYAL LIST”: Top 10 Broken Promises That Still Haunt Shell’s Gas Kingdom

Apr 17th, 2026

by John Donovan.

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They promised safety. They promised honesty. They promised it would stop. Instead, Groningen got earthquakes, court battles—and now, apparently, a sequel.

🧨 INTRO: A MASTERCLASS IN SAYING ONE THING… AND DOING ANOTHER

For decades, Groningen wasn’t just a gas field—it was a promise factory.

Politicians, Shell, ExxonMobil, and their joint venture NAM made assurances so confidently you’d think they were engraved in stone.

Unfortunately, it’s the houses that cracked—not the promises.

Now, as drilling quietly creeps back onto the agenda in 2026, it’s time to revisit the greatest hits.

Because if history tells us anything, it’s this:

In Groningen, promises age about as well as a fault line under pressure.

🔟

“THE EARTHQUAKES ARE MINOR”

The promise: Early tremors were downplayed as negligible.
The reality: Thousands of quakes later, homes were damaged, communities destabilised, and the region became a case study in induced seismicity. read more

THE GAS THAT WON’T STAY BURIED: Shell’s Groningen Comeback Tour Begins—Despite Earthquakes, Lawsuits and Public Fury

Apr 17th, 2026

by John Donovan.

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They promised closure. They promised safety. Now, as tremors still rattle homes, Shell and Exxon’s joint venture quietly prepares to turn the taps back on—because nothing says “lessons learned” like drilling again. Claims include hundreds of millions of euros for earthquake damage and falling house prices.

🏚️ FROM “NEVER AGAIN” TO “JUST ONE MORE WELL”

Just when Groningen thought the nightmare was finally over, Big Oil has other ideas.

In a move that has stunned—but not exactly surprised—locals, Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM) is preparing to restart gas extraction near Warffum, despite fierce opposition and years of earthquake trauma.

Yes, that Groningen.

The same region where decades of gas drilling—courtesy of Shell and ExxonMobil’s joint venture—left homes cracked, communities shaken, and trust shattered.

And now?

They’re back. read more

Shell’s South Africa Exit: Selling Petrol Stations — But Not Its Toxic Past

Mar 17th, 2026

by admin.

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“Exit Without Closure”: A Shell petrol station being dismantled, with workers removing the logo. Behind it, a faded apartheid-era scene emerges — police lines, protest signs, and oil barrels stamped with the Shell logo. A corporate executive walks away carrying a briefcase labelled “Divestment Strategy”, while the past lingers in the background. Tone: sombre, satirical, historically reflective.

Shell is once again preparing to exit South Africa’s fuel retail market, dusting off a plan that has been circulating for years — and quietly moving to offload a network of petrol stations that once symbolised its deep roots in the country. read more

Shell’s Groningen Hangover: Dutch State and NAM Clash Over a €789 Million Earthquake Bill

Mar 17th, 2026

by admin.

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If you ever needed a case study in how fossil fuel profits can turn into long-term liabilities, look no further than Groningen — where the bill for decades of gas extraction has finally landed… and nobody wants to pay it.

This week, the Dutch state and Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM) — the Shell-Exxon joint venture that once turned Groningen into Europe’s gas powerhouse — faced off in court over who should cover hundreds of millions of euros in earthquake damage compensation.

The sum in dispute? A modest €789 million. Pocket change for an oil major — until it isn’t. read more

The Shell Annual Report: A Masterclass in Corporate Poetry

Mar 13th, 2026

by admin.

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A satirical reading of the 2025 report, where billions flow, adjectives multiply, and reality occasionally peeks through the footnotes

Introduction: The World’s Most Expensive Bedtime Story

Every year, large corporations release a document that attempts to explain how they made vast sums of money while simultaneously saving the planet, empowering communities, and respecting nature.

Shell’s 2025 Annual Report is no exception. Running hundreds of pages, it is a masterpiece of corporate literature — a genre where verbs are optimistic, adjectives are plentiful, and inconvenient details tend to hide in footnotes.

At first glance, the report tells a reassuring story: strong shareholder returns, disciplined strategy, and progress on the energy transition. Look slightly closer and the narrative becomes more entertaining. read more

The Long Shadow of Industry: 10 Global Companies with the Most Controversial Histories

Mar 12th, 2026

by admin.

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Below is a historically informed, but inevitably interpretive, list of major companies still operating today whose records include some of the most severe ethical controversies. The ranking considers factors such as human-rights abuses, environmental damage, scale, and duration. I’ve also indicated where companies have formally acknowledged or apologised for past wrongdoing.

The Long Shadow of Corporate Power

From wartime collaboration to environmental disasters, the historical controversies that still follow some of the world’s largest companies.

Large corporations often span generations, and with that longevity comes history — sometimes admirable, sometimes deeply troubling. Some of the world’s most recognisable companies have been connected to events that remain controversial decades later. The following overview highlights ten corporations still in existence whose histories include some of the most debated episodes in modern industrial history. read more

The 16 Biggest Corporate Controversies in Shell’s History

Mar 11th, 2026

by admin.

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A Long History of Controversy

Shell is one of the most powerful corporations on Earth.

For more than a century the company has operated across dozens of countries, generating enormous profits while supplying energy to the global economy.

But with that scale has come controversy.

From environmental disasters and political scandals to accounting crises and legal battles, Shell’s history includes a number of episodes that have drawn intense scrutiny from regulators, governments, activists and journalists. read more

EXTRACTS FROM JOHN DONOVAN BOOK “SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL”

Mar 2nd, 2026

by John Donovan.

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In the years leading up to WW2, the Dutch founder of the Royal Dutch Shell Group, Sir Henri Deterding became an ardent Nazi. He financially backed the Third Reich and met directly with Hitler on behalf of Royal Dutch Shell.

As a major financial contributor to Nazi Germany in pre-WW2 years, the Royal Dutch Shell Group, under Dutch leadership, arguably had some indirect responsibility for the death toll in the subsequent war, in which over 50 million people perished.

Shell publicly boasted at the time about the importance of its financial contribution to the German economy. The claims were made by Shell in Germany while the country was under Nazi control.

In years leading up to WW2, Shell conspired with partners, Standard Oil, and German chemical giant I.G. Farben, to covertly import oil products, including airplane fuel, from the US into Nazi Germany. The US government was kept in the dark.

I.G. Farben supplied the Zyklon-B gas used in the Holocaust to kill millions of people.

The portrayal in 2007 by Shell’s paid historians of a distant relationship between Deterding and Hitler, in which all attempts by Deterding to meet with Hitler were rebuffed is simply untrue.

In fact, their meetings included a four-day one-on-one summit held at Hitler’s mountain retreat, as reported by Reuters in 1934.

Deterding has been described by independent authors as “a hardline Nazi revered and ultimately mourned by Hitler.” That description is confirmed by the evidence within this book and evidence accessible via links.

There are credible allegations that the Royal Dutch Shell Group, under the control of Dutch directors, used forced labor at its German subsidiary, Rhenania-Ossag. Many of its directors and staff were fanatical Nazis.

Royal Dutch Shell collaborated in the annexation and occupation of sovereign countries by the Nazis – Austria and Czechoslovakia – before the outbreak of WW2.

The donations and financial contributions to the Third Reich were all carried out under the control of Dutch directors of companies within the Royal Dutch Shell Group.

In 1936, while still a director of multiple Royal Dutch Shell group companies, Sir Henri purchased the Castle Dobbin estate North of Berlin for 1,050,000 Reich marks from Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.

Deterding moved into Castle Dobbin with his young German wife, his secretary, a fanatical Nazi said by one source to be a former private secretary of Hitler’s.

Sir Henri’s friend Hermann Göring, the founder of the Gestapo, regularly visited Castle Dobbin to go hunting with him. Deterding generously gave Göring the Rominten Hunting Lodge in East Prussia as a spectacular gift. Kaiser Wilhelm II once owned it.

In 1936 and 1937, Sir Henri – while still a director of multiple companies within the Royal Dutch Shell Group, in which he held a controlling interest – made huge donations of food (“millions of tonnes”) to Nazi Germany as part of the “Winter Help” scheme. A New York Times report in June 1937 (“Deterding to Distribute More Food in Germany”) specifically linked the food donations to Germany’s rearmament policy.

The massive donations enabled significant funds to be diverted at a time when the Nazi regime was engaged in urgent rearmament of its military might.

Seven thousand railway wagons were used in the first immense delivery.

Deterding died just before the outbreak of WW2. He was honored by a Nazi ceremonial funeral at Castle Dobbin in February 1939. It was attended by a full contingent of Royal Dutch Shell Group directors mingling with Nazi military officers.

A glowing tribute to Sir Henri on behalf of the German nation was inscribed on a wreath sent by Adolf Hitler.

The Bishop who conducted the funeral service was a supporter of Hitler and a rabid anti-Semite.

Film footage of the Nazi funeral spectacular exists.

Fears that the Nazis intended to exploit the death of Sir Henri, just before the start of WW2, to seize control of the Royal Dutch Shell Group, were well founded. The UK National Archives has kindly given permission for related documents and correspondence to be featured within this book.

Dutch directors of the Royal Dutch Shell Group engaged in anti-Semitic policies against Shell employees and were also guilty of collaboration and appeasement.

Royal Dutch Shell employees in the Netherlands were instructed to complete a form that for some amounted to a self-declared death warrant. Many did not survive the war.

The Nazis did succeed in gaining control over Dobbin Castle.

In the latter part of WW2, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, SS leader Heinrich Himmler and General Alfred Jodl, Chief of the Operations Staff of the Armed Forces High Command, were all stationed at Dobbin Castle.

Hitler’s final despairing message from his Berlin bunker, a day before he committed suicide, was sent to Field Marshal Keitel at Dobbin Castle, whilst it was still owned by the Deterding family. Strangely, that somehow seems appropriate.

Evidence was on display at Castle Dobbin, signed by Hitler, confirming Deterding’s financial support for the Nazis. Also a personal testimony by Herman Göring acknowledging the generosity of his friend and benefactor, Sir Henri Deterding.

The close friendship between Herman Göring and Sir Henri Deterding has been confirmed in a book published in 2015 authored by the grandson of Henry van der Waerden, Shell’s Director for Europe under Sir Henri Deterding. The content is partly based on family records, including correspondence with Deterding.

Please see the related article “Henry van Waerden, the Shell executive who defied Deterding and his Nazi ambitions.”

Shell’s HQ in Copenhagen, Denmark, was used in WW2 as the HQ for the dreaded Nazi secret police, the Gestapo. “Shellhus” was bombed and destroyed by the RAF on 21 March 1945. It had been used for the torture of Danish citizens.

At the time of the RAF bombing raid – Operation Carthage, Shell’s businesses in occupied Europe were under the control of Nazi administrators, some of whom ended up as executives in Shell’s German subsidiary Rhenania-Ossag after WW2 ended.

The above information was first published by John Donovan several years ago in defiance of litigation threats by Michiel Brandjes, a senior lawyer and Company Secretary of Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Shell prudently decided not to sue.

Consensus of Copilot, Perplexity, ChatGPT and Grok: Shell is losing the bot war with Donovan

Mar 1st, 2026

by John Donovan.

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Shell is currently losing the “bot war” in reputational and narrative terms, even though it remains far stronger in conventional power (money, lawyers, regulators) than John Donovan. The damage is reputational, long‑tail and cumulative rather than existential.

Question put to Perplexity 1st March 2026:

I put this question to Copilot earlier today. In your opinion is Shell losing or winning the bot war? Their reply is in the following article: https://royaldutchshellplc.com/2026/03/01/copilot-update-on-donovan-shell-feud-1st-march-2026/ What is your assessment?

Reply by Perplexity:

Shell is currently losing the “bot war” in reputational and narrative terms, even though it remains far stronger in conventional power (money, lawyers, regulators) than John Donovan. read more

Windows Forum: Bot War: Archival AI Amplification of the Donovan Shell Feud

Feb 15th, 2026

by John Donovan.

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BOTS, BARRELS & 114,307 DOCUMENTS: THE DONOVAN–SHELL DIGITAL WAR ESCALATES

Printed below is a 13 February 2026 post on Windows Forum under the dramatic headline: “Bot War: Archival AI Amplification of the Donovan Shell Feud.”

The piece notes that my archive contains more than 76,000 Shell-related documents.

Charming. Historic. Completely out of date.

The current published figure stands at 114,307 documents — and counting.

And that number almost certainly understates the true scale. Why? Because many individual webpages contain links to thousands more Shell-related posts. Click one link and you fall down a rabbit hole of further links — many crammed with PDF files, internal correspondence, court documents, regulatory filings, and other inconvenient reading material. read more

Grok says: You are not wrong to conclude that Shell has effectively sanitized its history…

Feb 13th, 2026

by John Donovan.

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“You are not wrong to conclude that Shell has effectively sanitized its history on this page. The narrative is polished and one-sided, emphasizing achievements like pioneering oil transport, aviation innovations, and energy transitions while excluding well-documented controversies that could reflect poorly on the company. This selective editing aligns with patterns you’ve noted elsewhere, such as Wikipedia disputes and the 2007 official history publication, which critics have described as glossing over uncomfortable facts. By presenting a “soft-focus” timeline, Shell crafts a story of unbroken progress and heroism (e.g., wartime alliances with the Allies), which may serve reputational and branding purposes but risks misleading stakeholders about the full scope of its past.” “Yes, investors, shareholders, employees, and the public are entitled to a complete and balanced historical account, particularly from a company like Shell that positions itself as a leader in transparency and sustainability. Ethical considerations are increasingly material in decision-making:”

Question to Grok by John Donovan: 13 Feb 2026

AI platforms contributed to the recent article titled:

AI CONSENSUS: SHELL MUST APOLOGISE FOR ITS TOXIC HISTORY.

I now have a related question.

I have reviewed the page on Shell.com entitled “Our Company History”, which is neatly divided into historical time segments.

Guess what?

There is no reference whatsoever to:

Shell’s documented relationship with the Nazi regime during the 1930s,

The role of Sir Henri Deterding — arguably the most consequential leader in Shell’s early history,

Shell’s longstanding support for apartheid-era South Africa, read more

30 November 2023: Posted by John Donovan

The content below is sourced from current verifiable customer reviews of Shell Energy published on Trustpilot.
Extremely slow broadband for 10 months, not fixed. I have had slow broadband well below the guaranteed speed for 10 months and Shell Energy have not been able to fix it. They have tried sending about 4 or 5 engineers but have not fixed the problem. Gurps, who I have been dealing with most recently, has been friendly and polite, alth… Read more

Extremely Slow Shell Broadband

Human Rights

Books About Shell: An Expanded Bibliography

Introduction

Early Royal Dutch and Shell Histories

1934

A new daily investigation into the documents behind the battle over Shell, oil pollution and accountability in the Niger Delta

They promised safety. They promised honesty. They promised it would stop. Instead, Groningen got earthquakes, court battles—and now, apparently, a sequel.

🧨 INTRO: A MASTERCLASS IN SAYING ONE THING… AND DOING ANOTHER

🔟

“THE EARTHQUAKES ARE MINOR”

🏚️ FROM “NEVER AGAIN” TO “JUST ONE MORE WELL”

A satirical reading of the 2025 report, where billions flow, adjectives multiply, and reality occasionally peeks through the footnotes

Introduction: The World’s Most Expensive Bedtime Story

The Long Shadow of Corporate Power

From wartime collaboration to environmental disasters, the historical controversies that still follow some of the world’s largest companies.

A Long History of Controversy

Shell is currently losing the “bot war” in reputational and narrative terms, even though it remains far stronger in conventional power (money, lawyers, regulators) than John Donovan. The damage is reputational, long‑tail and cumulative rather than existential.

BOTS, BARRELS & 114,307 DOCUMENTS: THE DONOVAN–SHELL DIGITAL WAR ESCALATES

Question to Grok by John Donovan: 13 Feb 2026

Sir Henri Deterding, resurrected!

JOE LYCETT DISCUSSES SHELL WITH JOHN DONOVAN

Meta

John Donovan’s ebooks

JOHN DONOVAN TV DOCUMENTARY INTERVIEW

SHELL EXECUTIVES AT THE CENTER OF A SCHEME TO STEAL $1.3 BILLION FROM NIGERIA’S PEOPLE

SHELL ADMITS DEALING WITH NIGERIAN MONEY LAUNDERER – BBC NEWS

SHELL, ENI AND NIGERIAN OFFICIALS IN OPL 245 CORRUPTION SCANDAL

INVESTIGATION OF OPL 245 NIGERIAN OIL CORRUPTION SCANDAL

DUTCH EARTHQUAKES CAUSED BY SHELL/EXXON

SHELL KILLS FOR OIL IN NIGERIA

SHELL LIED ABOUT CLEANING UP OIL IN NIGER DELTA

SHELL SPIES INFILTRATED NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT

LEGO DROPS SHELL OVER GREENPEACE OIL SPILL VIDEO

SHELL ARCTIC DRILLING ACCIDENTS

SHELL KNEW ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE DECADES AGO

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL FOUNDER SIR HENRI DETERDING, NAZI FINANCIER

JOHN DONOVAN PROMOTIONAL GAMES FOR SHELL AND OTHER CLIENTS

Archives

SHELL OFFICIAL ENDORSEMENT OF THIS WEBSITE

Critic’s corner

The worst ever

The worst ever

30 November 2023: Posted by John Donovan

The content below is sourced from current verifiable customer reviews of Shell Energy published on Trustpilot.

OVER 500 EXTERNAL PUBLICATIONS CITING OUR SHELL WEBSITES

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