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

The 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 eastwards into Europe, he examines how the extraction of peat propelled the Netherlands to world prominence but also imperilled its very existence. Continuing on up the Rhine by barge, into the heart of the continent, he uncovers more stories of potent and tempting resources, from iron-rich meteorites to radium and mercury, and the gold-bearing mountains of Georgia. At the same time he explores precious seams of ideas, from science to alchemy, mysticism to ecology - and those questing souls who pursued them, likeParacelsus, the Habsburg Emperor Rudolf II, Goethe,William Blake and Marie Curie.

Rich with revelations, Under A Metal Sky traces the dazzling achievements and dark consequences of our ability to extract what we want from the earth, and presents a fascinating new perspective on European history and on our troubled relationship with the natural world.

About the Author :
PHILIP MARSDEN is the award-winning author of a number of works of travel writing, fiction and non-fiction, including The Bronski House, The Spirit-Wrestlers and The Levelling Sea, and for Granta: Rising Ground and The Summer Isles. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and his work has been translated into fifteen languages. He lives in Cornwall.

Review :
Fascinating... Marsden is authoritative and erudite company, and his discussion of a 'sustainable future' is refreshingly nuanced, without pomp or bombast [Marsden's] enthusiasm for the subject is contagious, and he writes with a rock-collector's eye for glittering details. One senses this is a book he has been longing to write for years A luminously rich exploration of the mineral wonderland beneath our feet. Imaginatively travelled and beautiful written A book of breathtaking wealth and depth, as passionate as it is clear-eyed (and funny). 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 Glorious... a nuanced work... This is a scholarly work rich in history, science and ecology... [Marsden] has a gift for fusing the technical facts with his personal travel narrative Philip Marsden's new book is a wunderkammer, and well worth reading ... The charm and the genius of this book is in its ability not to pigeonhole itself Mind-boggling... deeply thoughtful, well-written and illuminating journey through the world of minerals and an exploration of their impact on the life and history of our planet A love letter to these key resources hidden within rocks and buried beneath the earth... Under a Metal Sky is a gracefully meticulous book, full of lyrical nature writing and didactic memoir. Accompanied by a lively cast of characters - from heavy-metal obsessed miners in Austria to the copper-loving poet William Blake - Marsden takes the reader on a tour of our metallic history Absorbing... It is a vast subject, and Marsden has a prospector's eye for finding glitter A lyrical meditation on the riches beneath our feet... Marsden's sense of awe is palpable... he sees geology as a metaphor for civilisation, the earth's layers echoing those of human memory Under a Metal Sky takes the reader through a strange and mystical history of metals that is as dark as it is dazzling... As compelling and sometimes fantastical as a novel... A timely reminder of the dangers of an economy of extraction, detailed in a similarly dreamlike prose to Robert McFarlane and WG Sebald [A] glorious exploration of the cultural importance of mining Part travelogue, part geology primer, with rich seams of history and philosophy running through it, this splendid book takes readers on an absorbing journey across Europe... A thoroughly recommended read A dazzling account of humanity's mystical and perilous relationship with rocks, minerals, and metals... [Marsden's] passion for geology shines in his accessible explanations and lyrical prose... This is a wonder