Rating: 
Summary: Well-written and comprehensive
Review: From the premise that coal is stored solar energy, Barbara Freese examines the role that coal has taken in the development of human history. She manages to lay out the "connections" between the discovery and exploitation of this resourse and the resulting economic, social, and political changes. All this is done in a very readable format. The only mild criticism I can assign is that, toward the end of the book, she looks to the future and projects what the ultimate result of all this may be. To be fair, that analysis completes the "history" she sets out to profile, and is obviously the point of the book. However, the projection is not nearly as fascinating as the history. When I have loaned this book to friends, my advice has been to read as long as it interests you, and then put it away without guilt. It will be well worth the read, no matter how far you go.
Rating: 
Summary: A Grand History But Short Sighted On Research & The Future!
Review: I found the book excellent in some aspects of outlining the author's research of coal in human history, but she lost it with a poor line of investigation on the future of coal due to her bias in the book. I found her account on the history of coal in Britain, America and China very good. The Coal Lobby in England did attempt to keep coal supreme even though the British Navy knew oil burning Battleships were the future. British Petroleum was created for that very purpose and few in The City, (London Investors); felt oil had a future compared to coal. Yet, finally good common sense ruled over powerful political interest and investors and coal became a secondary source of energy but still important one. Although the author wrote in a very easy to read style, my own interest in studying this subject since boyhood left me wanting when she came to some very weak conclusions not supported with real facts or proper research, in my opinion. I cannot agree with her study whatsoever on her conclusions coal should be eliminated as an energy source in the future. The simple facts are not in dispute except in this book. At this time, nothing can produce the BTU's that Coal, Gas or Oil creates in order to run our current society. Her myopic prejudice views on this point are really astounding and bring into question her creditability as well as the book. Although everyone loves talking about the future of Hydrogen replacing our energy sources, talk is cheap compared to the currents needs coal actually supply. Hydrogen is very volatile and is burned off at refineries because of it explosiveness. All one has to do is remember the "Hindenburg" burning in New Jersey? Hydrogen Automobiles biggest set backs for the future will be to prevent explosions as cars run into each other unlike most accidents today. Any refinery worker will tell you they burn off the hydrogen that comes from refining oil and gas due to its volatility that makes it dangerous for storage in great quantities unlike coal. Additionally, colossal Hydrogen Power Plants are not an answer right now since they cannot extract Hydrogen from water or oil or gas without electrolysis requiring huge amounts of BTU's. This can only come from refineries or electric plants fueled by oil, gas and coal. Although Hydrogen is bountiful, it needs to be separated from the oxygen molecules in water or gas and that won't come without huge electric power doing it first and foremost from BTU's produced by coal. I have no problem with promoting solar, wind and hydrogen power when it is easily and cheaply able to produce the same amount of BTU's our society now requires from oil, gas and of course coal. Still, at this time the author's conclusions are simply in error. Today, coal is an important component of our energy needs all over the world out of necessity not some sinister scheme. Everyday in the Third World underdeveloped nations people die due to lack of proper energy sources, the people need heat and air conditioning to survive and prosper just like our societies do using coal today. Plus their economies cannot grow without such BTU's needed to run their businesses. But this author feels otherwise and concludes coal should be abandon at a time when large amounts of hydrogen are not available? So her pipe dream is not based on the required rational thinking of our current worldwide realities. Thus, the book is great history mixed with current fiction and dreams don't produce British Thermal Units needed to preserve life more than injuring it, similar to the book. The author does point out the negative health effects coal has created in our society, my own father died of Coal miner's pneumoconiosis, better known as black lung disease. But today's coalmines spray limestone on the coal before mining it to reduce coal dust today. There is no question coal can be mined safely today and is cleaner than ever before and can be cleaned even better in the future before abandoning it as the author proposes. One could burn this book but it would not provide the BTU's that a piece of coal would do and why I cannot recommend it for good reading at this time!
Rating: 
Summary: Coal dust
Review: I moved back to the United States after living for about 8 years in Manchester, England. Even today, you can still identify the effects of coal in Manchester--from the many chimneys around the Northern landscape, to the coal-blackened Victorian warehouses. When I bought a house there, I pulled-up carpets that covered wood floors since 1911, and I myself was covered with coal dust that accumulated over the decades. Finally, in the North of England, you still have a few coal mining villages and towns that have very strong cultures. So I was aware of coal when I lived there, and had become curious. Freese's book is an excellent and engaging history of the history of coal and its relationship to the history of three nations: The United Kingdom, the United States, and China. She writes exceptionally fluidly, with, at once, broad sweeps and minute details that keep you both interetsed and informed. She also has a lovely dry sense of humor. Her chapter on Manchester, by the way, is excellent. The book isn't academic (to her credit), but nor is it a vapid popular account. Instead, Freese has written a book that does the nearly impossible in that it is well-researched, historically accurate, engaging almost, but not, to the point of being chatty. I couldn't put it down. What it lacks, by way of an academic angle, is a discussion of what else had been written in the past about the history of coal, as well as a theoretical approach. This is hardly a criticism because that really isn't the intention of this book. In fact, believe the book would have suffered had she taken this approach. I agree with another reviewer who suggested that Freese didn't know how to end the book--although I did find her discussion of alternatives to coal to be compelling. There are two typos in the book that evaded the copy editor, but otherwise this book is a small masterpiece. You will enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Coal: The High Cost of the Good Life
Review: On the bookshelf, COAL: A HUMAN HISTORY promises to be another informative, fascinating study of a common substance along the lines of Mark Kurlansky's SALT: A WORLD HISTORY, and his delightful COD: A BIOGRAPHY OF THE FISH THAT CHANGED THE WORLD. But a rude awakening awaits the unprepared reader. We learn that the blessings of coal decidedly have been mixed. Freese's exhaustively-researched and authoritative book informs of the problems coal has caused from the time of its earliest use: In thirteenth-century London, efforts already were being made to deal with polluting coal smoke. Coal-related disease in the 19th century reduced lifespans, increased infant mortality and caused debilitating disease. Coal miners traded away their full lifespans for their jobs. Freese's descriptions of child labor abuses are appalling. More than a dozen photographs and illustrations effectively support the text: The photographs of ruined children are heartbreaking. Nor are the social costs neglected. For much of coal mining history, miners were serfs in effect if not in fact. Brutal suppression of miners' strikes, routine at the time the occurred, would not be tolerated today. Given little emphasis is the role of coal in building the modern world, and in particular, western society. Coal fueled the Industrial Revolution in England, leading to world domination by English-speaking peoples. Our wealthy society and high standard of living was built on cheap energy, primarily dervied from hydrocarbons. Right or wrong, the role of coal in creating our modern way of life, lightly treated here, warrants deeper exploration. In the end, Freese documents the terrible threat to our environment posed by modern-day coal-burning. It's painful to read yet another description of the over-use and destruction of our planet, particularly one that comes close to being strident. But read it we must if we are to change course before it's too late. Filled with fascinating detail and revelations, COAL: A HUMAN HISTORY is a compelling book. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Just Another Jerremiad
Review: This book is not so much about coal, as it is about the environmental issues surrounding its use. I would have thought, though, that even a book of this sort would provide at least some of the basics of coal chemistry, giving some information on the chemical nature and reactions of coal, and the number of Joules per kg, perhaps. If you are looking for information of that sort, pass this jeremiad on by. Its approach is that you don't need to understand a technology in order to appreciate or regulate it. The book starts pretty well, giving some highlights of the history of coal's critical contributions to the industrial revolution, some of which will appeal even to those only tangentially concerned about the history of technology and how our present world came to be. The tale of the resistance of Londoners to the use of more efficient stoves over the smoky fireplace with its visual appeal, now superseded by the TV, was fine to read. Sorrowfully, there is not a word about the men who invented and developed the cast iron stove. The trials and tribulations of the men who enabled the transition of charcoal to coal in the production of iron is not to be found here. The important development of the coal-gas light, though described briefly, also totally neglects the chemistry, the men behind it and their heroic struggles. The production of coke is briefly described, but there is not even the briefest mention of the coal tar and the role it played in the development of the chemical industry. Although the transition of wood to coal burning locomotives is covered, the epical transition to the diesel is nowhere described. The properties and uses of the ash produced when coal is burned is also essentially ignored in this essay of environmental fantasies. The book does have for much of its length, a preoccupation with the smoke generated by burning coal, its noxiousness, and its mentions in the novels and memoirs of the times. But where is the discussion of the characteristics of smoke, its particle size and densities, its variance with the type of coal and how it is burned? Neglected again. The possibility of the conversion of coal to a liquid petroleum-like fuel, and the enormous amount of research surrounding this possibility is likewise unknown to this author. Long wall mining techniques which have done so much to improve mine safety is not worth a mention either. The author, an environmental solicitor and pleader, vaguely, feebly, and predictably argues for the complete replacement of coal by "renewable resources" such as solar power and windmills or something. Nuclear power is, in keeping with the usual dogma, dismissed in a sentence or two. The influence of this sort of discourse, while dominant for now among the media mongers and uplifters, will have little impact on our energy future. Our civilization, born in Northern Europe, has a record of steady and continuous improvement, and has a future that will be again filled with surprises and glories through the efforts of heroic engineers.
Rating:
Summary: Just Another Jerremiad
Review: This book is not so much about coal, as it is about the environmental issues surrounding its use. I would have thought, though, that even a book of this sort would provide at least some of the basics of coal chemistry, giving some information on the chemical nature and reactions of coal, and the number of Joules per kg, perhaps. If you are looking for information of that sort, pass this jeremiad on by. Its approach is that you don't need to understand a technology in order to appreciate or regulate it. The book starts pretty well, giving some highlights of the history of coal's critical contributions to the industrial revolution, some of which will appeal even to those only tangentially concerned about the history of technology and how our present world came to be. The tale of the resistance of Londoners to the use of more efficient stoves over the smoky fireplace with its visual appeal, now superseded by the TV, was fine to read. Sorrowfully, there is not a word about the men who invented and developed the cast iron stove. The trials and tribulations of the men who enabled the transition of charcoal to coal in the production of iron is not to be found here. The important development of the coal-gas light, though described briefly, also totally neglects the chemistry, the men behind it and their heroic struggles. The production of coke is briefly described, but there is not even the briefest mention of the coal tar and the role it played in the development of the chemical industry. Although the transition of wood to coal burning locomotives is covered, the epical transition to the diesel is nowhere described. The properties and uses of the ash produced when coal is burned is also essentially ignored in this essay of environmental fantasies. The book does have for much of its length, a preoccupation with the smoke generated by burning coal, its noxiousness, and its mentions in the novels and memoirs of the times. But where is the discussion of the characteristics of smoke, its particle size and densities, its variance with the type of coal and how it is burned? Neglected again. The possibility of the conversion of coal to a liquid petroleum-like fuel, and the enormous amount of research surrounding this possibility is likewise unknown to this author. Long wall mining techniques which have done so much to improve mine safety is not worth a mention either. The author, an environmental solicitor and pleader, vaguely, feebly, and predictably argues for the complete replacement of coal by "renewable resources" such as solar power and windmills or something. Nuclear power is, in keeping with the usual dogma, dismissed in a sentence or two. The influence of this sort of discourse, while dominant for now among the media mongers and uplifters, will have little impact on our energy future. Our civilization, born in Northern Europe, has a record of steady and continuous improvement, and has a future that will be again filled with surprises and glories through the efforts of heroic engineers.
Rating:
Summary: Dirty Rotten Carbon Fuels
Review: This is a short book and, yes, it is written by a committed environmentalist. But it is also an extremely well-researched and well-structured tale, written by someone with a real understanding of the social consequences of energy consumption. "Coal" takes us to Britain, where coal had been a fuel source for centuries - leading to a plethora of genetic and medical problems, not least a slew of skin, lung and growth disorders in the cities (like London and Manchester) that burned coal in the greatest quantity. Author Freese then travels over to Wilkes-Barre in Pennsylvania, where the American coal-mining industry started, and plots its development - also showing us the environmental effects of heavy industrial coal usage on an old steel town such as Pittsburgh. The final chapter is devoted to the Kyoto Protocols and other worldwide efforts to reach cleaner fuels. Concise and with huge contemporary relevance.
Rating:
Summary: Coal... a slightly different perspective
Review: This is a truly insightful and fluid book. The story line is very well written and highly informative. It brings out the history of the black rock and weaves it quite compellingly into the history of modern western civilization. The differentiation between anthracite and bituminous coal serves to illustrate the differences between the East and the Midwest of the US.
The book takes an odd turn, however, when it turns into political commentary and develops the themes espoused at Kyoto. There is no mention of all of the big coal towns that have sprung up over the last few decdades in the modern American West. Places like Gillette, Kemmerer, Craig or Rock Springs where truly world-class, state-of-the-art technology has come to the fore to mine the rock as economically and sensitively as possible. Similarly, there is no mention of the state-of-the-art rail systems that serve these hubs to bring coal to major metropolitan communities. And to, there is no discussion of new fluidized bed systems designed to burn the pulverized coal as cleanly as possible.
When I finished the book, I felt somewhat diasappointed that the theme of "A Human History" was truncated after Kyoto. If I had wanted to read a natural resources poli sci book, I would have bought one.
Nonetheless, the author is to be commended for her first attempt here and this reader looks forward to reading her next work.
Rating:
Summary: To build a world that no longer needs coal . . . . .
Review: This is a truly remarkable book. In time, and hopefully in the not-too-distant future, Barbara Freese will attain the well-deserved stature that Rachel Carson achieved with "Silent Spring" just 40 years ago -- or Sinclair Lewis a century ago when he exposed the horrors of the meat packing industry. As Freese so eloquently illustrates, it's hard to dislike coal. Her history credits coal, plus a variety of lucky accidents, with being the foundation of almost everything we love and hold dear in our industrial-intellectual-materialist modern luxury. The ability of coal to produce energy has been known for thousands of years, but it took many new ways of thinking to unleash the latent power of coal as the fuel of industrialization. Freese treads lightly though the history of coal, showing how a unique combination of events and circumstances made it the fuel of choice in England at the time of William Shakespeare was writing and Queen Elizabeth I. The US trailed England until the latter half of the nineteenth century when coal made this country the most powerful nation on earth. Given that, it's hard to picture the US giving up King Coal to adopt alternatives. After all, could America give up King George III to adopt a democratic alternative? England, in the 1600s, made the change which led to industrialization; at about the same time, China didn't and plummeted from being the world's most powerful economy into a helpless undemocratic giant by 1800. Granted, such decisions don't hinge on the next election - - or the last one. The basic change may take a century; but, Freese argues, unless fundamental changes are made in our source of energy, we face certain disaster. Of course, England, China and every coal-based economy faces similar challenges within the same time frame. The problem, as Freese points out, is that dramatic global climate change hinges on a few degrees in temperature. The last Ice Age, some 10,000 years ago, was only 5 degrees Celsius colder than today; and that change occurred within a decade. Within another century, unless energy policies change, global warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels could send temperatures up another 5 degrees Celsius and melt the last of the ice caps - - which are already melting. One possibility is rising oceans, which drown out coastal regions where most people now live. The other is rising oceans, putting vastly more moisture and carbon dioxide in the air which cuts off sunlight, chilling the planet enough to trigger massive snowstorms that create another Ice Age. Take your pick. That is the future we face if we don't act. England, some 400 years ago, faced a similar "energy crisis" due to over-cutting of forests to provide basic energy plus the charcoal needed to smelt iron. Coal was quickly adopted to provide heat, but it took a century to learn how to make coke to smelt iron. The result produced the Industrial Revolution. Freese says we must find an alternative . . . . . or else. Carson said as much in "Silent Spring" -- find an alternative to DDT or face the consequences of widespread environmental poisoning. The beauty of America is its ability to overcome such challenges and improve results for everyone. She is also wise enough to point out that well-meaning, sincere and sometimes intelligent people will say nothing new needs to be done. A century ago, some even argued that coal smoke was healthier than fresh air because coal smoke, having been through the fire, was not germ-laden as was fresh air. Freese is objective enough not to advocate solutions. Instead, she clearly and concisely illustrates the problem. Carson had a simple answer, "Ban DDT." Now, the environmental challenge is vastly different, and more immense. Today, "coal" is the problem, "Ban coal" is not the answer. Instead, we need a better alternative. When that happens, coal will disappear due to competition from a superior product. What could be more American? Our challenge is to build a world that no longer needs coal, before nature creates a world that doesn't need us.
Rating:
Summary: To build a world that no longer needs coal . . . . .
Review: This is a truly remarkable book. In time, and hopefully in the not-too-distant future, Barbara Freese will attain the well-deserved stature that Rachel Carson achieved with "Silent Spring" just 40 years ago -- or Sinclair Lewis a century ago when he exposed the horrors of the meat packing industry. As Freese so eloquently illustrates, it's hard to dislike coal. Her history credits coal, plus a variety of lucky accidents, with being the foundation of almost everything we love and hold dear in our industrial-intellectual-materialist modern luxury. The ability of coal to produce energy has been known for thousands of years, but it took many new ways of thinking to unleash the latent power of coal as the fuel of industrialization. Freese treads lightly though the history of coal, showing how a unique combination of events and circumstances made it the fuel of choice in England at the time of William Shakespeare was writing and Queen Elizabeth I. The US trailed England until the latter half of the nineteenth century when coal made this country the most powerful nation on earth. Given that, it's hard to picture the US giving up King Coal to adopt alternatives. After all, could America give up King George III to adopt a democratic alternative? England, in the 1600s, made the change which led to industrialization; at about the same time, China didn't and plummeted from being the world's most powerful economy into a helpless undemocratic giant by 1800. Granted, such decisions don't hinge on the next election - - or the last one. The basic change may take a century; but, Freese argues, unless fundamental changes are made in our source of energy, we face certain disaster. Of course, England, China and every coal-based economy faces similar challenges within the same time frame. The problem, as Freese points out, is that dramatic global climate change hinges on a few degrees in temperature. The last Ice Age, some 10,000 years ago, was only 5 degrees Celsius colder than today; and that change occurred within a decade. Within another century, unless energy policies change, global warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels could send temperatures up another 5 degrees Celsius and melt the last of the ice caps - - which are already melting. One possibility is rising oceans, which drown out coastal regions where most people now live. The other is rising oceans, putting vastly more moisture and carbon dioxide in the air which cuts off sunlight, chilling the planet enough to trigger massive snowstorms that create another Ice Age. Take your pick. That is the future we face if we don't act. England, some 400 years ago, faced a similar "energy crisis" due to over-cutting of forests to provide basic energy plus the charcoal needed to smelt iron. Coal was quickly adopted to provide heat, but it took a century to learn how to make coke to smelt iron. The result produced the Industrial Revolution. Freese says we must find an alternative . . . . . or else. Carson said as much in "Silent Spring" -- find an alternative to DDT or face the consequences of widespread environmental poisoning. The beauty of America is its ability to overcome such challenges and improve results for everyone. She is also wise enough to point out that well-meaning, sincere and sometimes intelligent people will say nothing new needs to be done. A century ago, some even argued that coal smoke was healthier than fresh air because coal smoke, having been through the fire, was not germ-laden as was fresh air. Freese is objective enough not to advocate solutions. Instead, she clearly and concisely illustrates the problem. Carson had a simple answer, "Ban DDT." Now, the environmental challenge is vastly different, and more immense. Today, "coal" is the problem, "Ban coal" is not the answer. Instead, we need a better alternative. When that happens, coal will disappear due to competition from a superior product. What could be more American? Our challenge is to build a world that no longer needs coal, before nature creates a world that doesn't need us.
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