“A lifelong curiosity for earthly wonders has been poured, like liquid silver, into this glittering book and, as the last page is turned, the reader cannot help but agree that rocks and minerals have the ability to open up the entire world”
The discovery of minerals beneath our feet has transformed our species: tin and copper ushered in the Bronze Age, silver kick-started the engines of global trade, and lithium is integral to much of today’s technology.
Each of these substances generated a leap forward in science and culture, opening our imagination a little further. Here, Philip Marsden takes us on a revelatory journey, from the tin mines of Cornwall to the gold-rich mountains of Georgia, in search of the minerals which have shaped not just our history but our entire troubled relationship with the natural world.
“This glorious book”
“Fascinating... an exploration of minerals that gleams with substance and authority.... Marsden’s study yields nuggets of insight into the Big Questions, offered with humility - and girded throughout by some of the loveliest descriptive writing one will read anywhere”
“Marsden offers a dazzling account of humanity’s mystical and perilous relationship with rocks, minerals, and metals.... This is a wonder”
“A book of breathtaking wealth and depth, as passionate as it is clear-eyed”
