Buried treasure
Black Gold: The History of How Coal Made Britain by Jeremy Paxman William Collins, 320 pages, £25
In a grand historical sweep from the 16th century to the present day, Jeremy Paxman’s latest book provides a new account of coal’s role in the rise and (in some respects) fall of modern Britain. In his customary sharp, crisp prose, and covers it all – and in the process takes a topic too often confined to the earnest pages of economic historians and turns it into a rich, colourful and highly readable narrative.
