·

Under a Metal Sky A Journey Through Minerals, Greed and Wonder

'A book of breathtaking wealth and depth... Marsden takes the history of metals and, from it, creates a dazzling history of humanity and our relationship with this planet. It can only be alchemy'Tom Bullough, author of Sarn HelenThe discovery of minerals beneath our feet has transformed our species.Ochre first prompted humans to express themselves in art; tin and copper helped instigate the Bronze Age and later the Industrial Revolution; silver kick-started the engines of global trade. Each of these substances generated a leap forward in technology, each one opened the imagination a little further - and each one brought with it a cache of unexpected dangers. Under A Metal Sky begins and ends in Philip Marsden's homeland of Cornwall, one of the world's great geological hotspots.Travelling e