"Science-Based Medicine" writer Steven Novella says that Rhodes's book from 2018 "Energy: A Human History" reviews the history of our use of energy from around 1500 to the present. Novella writes, ". . . it is well-researched and contains a wealth of historical information. . . . A few themes stuck out for me in the book. One was how similar the social, political, and market forces are today and in the past when it comes to energy," and, ". . . the book is timely because the history of our energy decisions in the past is great background for our energy decisions today from his 2018 review."