Kunstler's most widely known work is The Long Emergency about how society unravels when oil production doesn't live up to demand. Essentially the World Made by Hand is fictionalized version of The Long Emergency.
The novel is bleak. It is set in upstate New York. The United States has collapsed through a series of events -- war, terrorism, coup d'état -- followed by the flu epidemics and civil strife that winnow out the remaining population. Law disappears, real estate collapses, and towns transform agrarian outposts.
In some ways his book is post-apocalyptic disaster porn. Globalism is dead, of course, and while there is no mention of Europe so far in the novel, there are some things I think that can be extrapolated on the impact to Europe. The U.S. is very spread out, especially the western part of the country. Cities have failed and he hints of ethnic cleansing between groups. Evangelical faith communities are all the rage.
Rural communities that have local agriculture are better off than urban sprawl. Older houses -- built before the 20th century oil economy -- hold up better. Therefore, in Kunstler's world -- European communties may revert back to the 1800s better than most of the United States.
It is an interesting book. The writing is not great and the message is utterly depressing, but it is a very quick read. And somehow making it fiction impacted me more than reading the same thing with his non-fiction.
The message of the post-peak oil U.S. for me is -- I am doomed. I have the wrong skills, wrong house, and wrong supplies for a World Made by Hand. My best bet is to hoard some things, such as matches and spices from Asia, now to barter and trade later.
There are technological differences between now and the early 1800's that are not oil-related, the most important of which is electricity. In fact, the oil economy is not substantially new in that respect. The European economy went through burning wood, then wood cal, then when that ran out started mining coal in earnest, and getting gas from coal mines, then got oil... Electrical technology was only developed in the latter third of the 19th century. So you could argue that the last 150 years have been about building an electricity-based civilization on the back of fossil fuels, which themselves replaced the burning of biomass.
There's no going back to the 1800's, in other words, even if oil runs out we'll be in a better technological environment. The only problem is the sustainability of the population. When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
Like I mentioned, the "book is post-apocalyptic disaster porn". In Kunstler's post-peak oil U.S., society has broken down sufficiently that the infrastructure has deteriorated, thus there is irregular or no electrical service. He doesn't go into details, but for his setting to work -- electricity does not.
'Terrorist' action kills all of the major oil supply points within a matter of days, and a week later most of the UK is dead.
Cheerful stuff, with a side order of traditionally British dystopian rape and murder in your neighbourhood.
I think the ending is too optimistic. People suddenly work out how to grow food, very, very quickly. I can't imagine it happening anything like that quickly after a total collapse - agriculture isn't easy, especially when you have no tools, no experience, and no seeds.
Your book sounds more thorough. Half Light is really just a topical horror pot boiler.
