The fascinating, often surprising story of how a simple black rock altered the course of history, perfect for fans of Mark Kurlansky''s Salt and Jeremy Paxman''s Black Gold.

''A passionate plea for a more considered way of treating the earth, its resources and its inhabitants'' DAILY TELEGRAPH
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Coal has transformed societies, fueled economies, and expanded frontiers. It made China a twelfth-century superpower, inspired the writing of the Communist Manifesto, and helped the northern states win the American Civil War. Yet the mundane mineral that built our global economy has also caused death, disease, and environmental destruction.

In this remarkable book, Barbara Freese takes us on a rich historical journey that begins three hundred million years ago and spans the globe. From the ''Great Stinking Fogs'' of London to the rat-infested coal mines of Pennsylvania, from the impoverished slums of Manchester to the toxic city streets of Beijing, Coal is a captivating narrative about the simple black rock that helped build our modern world, but now endangers our future.
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''Elegant and engaging . . . No subject is more important for understanding the recent past, and preparing for the future.'' SUNDAY TIMES

''The incredible story of Britain''s black goal.'' DAILY MAIL

''Eloquent . . . unsparing . . . The relation between carbon and climate change has seldom been so clearly and readably explained.'' SCOTSMAN

''As much about the growing scientific evidence of the damage coal causes to the environment as it is about the social history of the Industrial Revolution.'' FINANCIAL TIMES

''Freese wants readers to be clear about just how vital coal has been to our era of human development because she hopes to persuade us that it''s time to enter a new one.'' NEW YORK TIMES

''An absorbing book that never loses its grip.'' NEW SCIENTIST

''Fascinating . . . It lingers hauntingly in the mind.'' NEW STATESMAN

''As this human history of coal makes clear, there are no easy answers. . . A welcome contribution to the search for a sustainable energy economy.'' NATURAL HISTORY