Coal A Human History
Coal: A Human History by Barbara Freese, published by Arrow in 2006, offers a comprehensive exploration of coal’s significant impact on societies throughout history. This edition spans 337 pages and is presented in English. Freese takes readers on a historical journey that begins in Britain, detailing how coal fueled the Industrial Revolution and transformed the nation into a global empire. The narrative then shifts to examine coal’s role in America and China, highlighting the evolution of labor unions and the contemporary energy landscape.
Readers will find an in-depth analysis of coal’s dual nature, addressing both its contributions to industrial progress and the environmental challenges it poses. The book delves into the social history surrounding coal, reflecting on its influence on economies and communities. By examining the past and present of this vital resource, Freese raises critical questions about energy consumption and sustainability, making it a relevant read in today’s context of rising oil prices and energy demands.
Official synopsis Publisher
An enthralling journey, across time and across continents, using the fascination with coal and the crucial need for it as a way of approaching some of the most fundamental questions of human existence.
‘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 and shaped the fate of nations. It launched empires and triggered wars. Above all, it fuelled the Industrial Revolution in Britain, propelling the rise of a small rural kingdom into the greatest commercial empire in the world.
Taking us on a rich historical journey that begins on the banks of the river Tyne, Barbara Freese explores the profound role coal has played in human history and continues to play in todays world. The first half of the book is set in Britain and tells how coal transformed Britain and ushered in the industrial age. The rest of the book looks at America and China, at the birth of the unions and the closing of the mines, and at the energy industry today. With oil prices on the rise and no end in sight to our insatiable appetite for energy, the world is turning again to coal.
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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
‘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
‘Coal, while it fairly acknowledges what the substance has done for people, devotes its more swashbuckling passages to describing what it has done to them’ NEW YORK TIMES BOOKS REVIEW
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