In this remarkable book, Barbara Freese takes us on a rich historical journey that begins hundreds of millions of years ago and spans the globe. Prized as the best stone in Britain" by Roman invaders who carved jewellery out of it, coal has transformed societies, launched empires, and expanded frontiers. It made China an eleventh-century superpower, inspired the Communist Manifesto , and helped the North win the American Civil War. Yet coal's transformative power has come at tremendous cost, from the blackening of our lungs and skies, to the perils of mining, to global warming. Now updated with a new chapter describing the high-stakes conflict between coal's defenders and those working to preserve a livable climate, Coal offers a captivating history of the mineral that helped build the modern world but now endangers our future.
- ISBN10 0465057934
- ISBN13 9780465057931
- Publish Date 9 February 2016 (first published 1 January 2000)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Basic Books
- Format Paperback
- Pages 384
- Language English