Full name: Coal: A Human History

Author: Barbara Freese Year: 2003 Rank: Rating: Original Rating: Pop Rating: Genres/categories: History, Science Purchase/reserch links: Goodreads Amazon LibraryThing ISBNs: 9780142000984 0142000981

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 jewelry out of it, coal has transformed societies, expanded frontiers, and sparked social movements, and still powers our electric grid. Yet coal's world-changing power has come at a tremendous price, including centuries of blackening our skies and lungs-and now the dangerous warming of our global climate. Ranging from the "great stinking fogs" of London to the rat-infested coal mines of Pennsylvania, from the impoverished slums of Manchester to the toxic streets of Beijing, Coal is a captivating narrative about an ordinary substance with an extraordinary impact on human civilization. Similar books: The Greatest Stories Never Told by Rick Beyer 1492 by Felipe Fernandez-Armesto The Evolution of Civilizations by Carroll Quigley A Brief History of the Western World by Thomas H. Greer Catastrophe by David Keys Civilization by Roger Osborne Unnatural Murder by Anne Somerset Captain Bligh's Portable Nightmare by John Toohey Cotton by Stephen Yafa The Twentieth Century by Howard Zinn Legends, Lies, and Cherished Myths of American History by Richard Shenkman 1491 by Charles C. Mann Love Stories by Jonathan Ned Katz The Great Influenza by John M. Barry 1493 by Charles C. Mann Eyewitness to History by John Carey Connections by James Burke Polio by David M. Oshinsky World History For Dummies by Peter Haugen Civilization on Trial by Arnold J. Toynbee