Black Gold: The History of How Coal Made Britain

Product Information

Marguerite Henry (April 13, 1902-November 26, 1997) was an American writer. The author of fifty-nine books based on true stories of horses and other animals, her work has captivated entire generations of children and young adults and won several Newbery Awards and Honors. Among the more famous of her works was Misty of Chincoteague, which was the basis for the 1961 movie Misty, and several sequel books.

In this new work of nonfiction, the author has provided everything from the very beginnings of oil to how this substance has saved lives, taken lives, and how the future looks for the next generation as oil takes over as the hottest property anyone can possibly own. Deadly sins have come from oil - jealousy, envy, even hate - yet without this particular ‘find’ there are millions of machines and innovative devices that wouldn’t exist. So…what’s worse? From that glad, confident morning onwards, the story is one of managed, or mismanaged, decline. In the 1960s, under the Labour politician Alf Robens, the number of pits fell from nearly 700 to 292, and the number of miners was slashed, from 583,000 to 283,000. Much of this was inevitable, as railways shifted to diesel, and electricity generation moved to oil, gas and nuclear. King Coal had been dethroned. The rear end of Marrin’s book was annoying. The book is intended for use in schools. He recommends that the U.S. should become energy independent as soon as possible. The best solution, he says, is a combination of fossil fuels and alternative energy — solar, wind, biomass, hydro, geothermal, nuclear (no mention of sharply reducing consumption). The assumption is that independence is possible, and that the consumer way of life will be free to continue down the path of mindless self-destruction. Readers learn about renewable energy, like wind, solar, and hydro. See Ted Trainer’s book, Renewable Energy Cannot Sustain a Consumer Society . Learn about the significant shortcomings of the various types of alternative energy. Discover why no combination of them will ever come anywhere close to replacing the energy now provided by fossil fuel. Discover why we will not enjoy a smooth and painless transition to a sustainable, renewable energy future.Readers also learn that the U.S. has huge coal reserves, enough for 250 years at the current rate of consumption. To understand why this is a meaningless statement, watch one of the many versions of Albert Bartlett’s famous lecture, Arithmetic, Population, and Energy on YouTube. Every student and teacher should watch it. Asphalt also helped the dead 'live' forever. Ancient Egyptians believed in life after death. But to gain eternal life, a corpse had to be mummified--that is, embalmed and dried to prevent decay. Asphalt was a key ingredient in turning a corpse into a mummy; the word comes from mumiyyah, Arabic for 'asphalt.' Since Egypt had little asphalt, merchants traveled to the Dead Sea, in what is today Israel, to trade with the local Arabs for it. The king of Syria, hoping to profit from the trade, sent an army to occupy the area. Furious that a foreign 'thief' should control the fate of their dead, the Egyptians sent an army in 312 BC, thus winning history's first war for oil." It wasn't an exhaustive history and some aspects were dwelt on for longer than others - naval developments had much more coverage than railways and I was surprised that the traditional birthplace of the industrial revolution in Shropshire didn't get much of a mention. The technological developments were nonetheless covered in detail, along with the experience of working in mines (I had no idea there was a ballot for soldiers to work in the mines during wartime) and the changes in legislation and ownership of the UK industry. At the heart of the book, inevitably, lies a political story. Paxman gives a lucid account of the growing demands for better conditions, the counterarguments of the pit owners, the protests and strikes, and the eventual major legal changes: the shift to national ownership of coal underground in 1938, and the complete nationalisation of the industry in 1947. I'm not sure but I think so. As is quoted here, Heseltine opined that all he had done was shut down a dirty, dangerous industry and there is some truth to that I think. However, the cavalier attitude to mining and the mining communities that fueled the Industrial Revolution was despicable and its reverberations continue to this day. Those that dug coal out of deep mines gave their health and often their lives to make a few people incredibly rich, and to propel the UK to make an Empire that was magnificent if you where a beneficiary of Imperialism, but vile for everyone else. I got that from the book but somehow felt it was, if anything, understated here.

The subject is petroleum, from history to the search for alternative energy sources. Many little-known facts are included. For example, during WWII only the US had developed 100 octane fuel, which gave a decisive advantage to Allied fighter planes. I found the writing style to be generally readable although the economic bits were a little dry and there were some odd figurative phrases. Paxman's trademark acerbic observations, particularly of politicians, are in evidence. The book includes notes, illustrations and an index. Germany and Japan learned the hard way that running out of oil is for losers. Everyone knows this today. U.S. presidents have poured trillions of dollars into maintaining control of oil, whilst jabbering about freedom, democracy, and weapons of mass destruction. For some mysterious reason, millions of Middle Eastern folks now loath and detest the U.S. I don't even know where to begin with this. Maybe I should start with the fact that I wouldn't have read this had it not been a Battle of the Books book, and even then, it was one I was forced to read because no one else wanted to. I really wish that I could have turned around and said that this book wasn't as bad as every thought, but, sadly, that is not the case. In 1947, she published Misty of Chincoteague and it was an instant success. Later, this book—as well as Justin Morgan had a Horse and Brighty of the Grand Canyon—were made into movies.

Site Customisation

Running through this book are themes of Aboriginal empowerment, identity, integration, resistance, social disruption and communication. A Bank Street College of Education’s Children’s Book Committee’s Best Children’s Books of the Year (2023) Mining in general, and coal mining in particular is one of those subjects that somehow fascinates me for reasons I don't clearly understand. I think it is something to do with the horror and wonder of the industry; the danger, the long term impacts, the communities that build up around mines, the vile impact of unfettered capitalism that made many fabulously rich whilst killing those tasked with digging this filthy commodity out of the ground. I was also fortunate enough, in my youth, to be able to descend into a copper mine in Zambia which was a fascinating experience - the descent in a cage, the heat, the noise etc. Mining therefore became one of a collection of subjects that both fascinates and repels me.

I very much enjoyed how this was all put together, and it was interesting to follow how things progressed but as I say, I was particularly interested in the harsh lives of miners and the tough communities that are up solely around the pit heads. It also seems, as I pretty much knew, that safety was very much compromised in many pits and on many occasions leading not only to the massive death tolls on major disasters, but also the more random times death and serious injury was inflicted on miners in ones and twos.Lyrical, empowering, and inspiring. An affirmation of the miracle each individual is.” —Yamile Saied Méndez, author of Where Are You From? and What Will You Be? The involvement and descriptions of the politicians that are part of the story of coal are dealt with in a very Paxmanesque style and I loved this.

This is an extremely important issue — energy returned on energy invested (EROEI). The book doesn’t mention this. EROEI is also highly relevant to oil. Rubin and others note that in the good old days of high-profit gushers, it was common to invest one calorie of energy to produce 100 calories of oil (100:1). By 2010, typical EROEI was about 17:1, and some are predicting 5:1 by 2020. I also recall, whilst in college, the miners strike of 1984/5. In my youth I didn't understand politics or sociology and was an immensely privileged, obnoxious right winger who was firmly on the side of the government in that struggle. Suffice it to say I owe to miners in general, and Scargill in particular, an apology. My world view is 180 degrees away from that I held in my 20s and I now deplore conservative ideology in general, and Thatcherism in particular which has led, pretty directly to the decline in public sector services and general social infrastructure currently afflicting the UK, exacerbated by BREXIT of course. But I digress. Teachers, librarians, and parents should have an above average understanding of energy issues before selecting books on the subject. These issues are going to have a staggering impact on the lives of the target audience, young readers. It’s long past time to sit down with youngsters and have a highly embarrassing birds-and-bees discussion about the fact that the abundant energy bubble is going to turn into a pumpkin during the lifetimes. Preserving their ignorance seems cruel. The town buzzed with excitement, and smelled to high heaven, thanks to all that oil. 'The whole place,' a visitor said, 'smelled like a corps of soldiers when they have diarrhea.'" Uncovering myths and legends, such as the fact that oil did not come from decayed dinosaurs (which is a popular belief). In fact, this substance is what remains of life forms that lived in the ocean millions of years ago. To Gas-powered cars that were once called healthy and clean because they replaced the amazing amount of horse manure that covered the streets across the country. Above all, without oil, most of the items we take for granted nowadays would not be available. Therefore the good must be taken with the bad. Right?

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

My favorite part of the book was the history of nations and wars over/with/because of oil. As a young child I remember the oil cruch in 1973, and in hearing about the Iran controversery with Ayatollah Khomeini coming into power, then the American hostages held for 444 days, their release shortly after Ronald Regean became president, and the Iran/Iraq War. At the time I was too young to understand much; but this book put it all into perspective. I understand more of the role of OPEC and Saudia Arabia and what we as citizens of this world need to do to find new energy sources. Middle Eastern oil-producing countries disliking us. Escalating fuel costs and steadily decreasing supplies. Global warming and massive pollution. Are we all doomed, or what? In the book, readers learn that nuclear reactors can generate lots of electricity, but they occasionally barf large amounts of radiation all over the place. Therefore, it’s very important to properly dispose of spent fuel because it’s extremely toxic. Great idea! How? William and Rosemary Alley discussed this issue in Too Hot to Touch. They note that today “there are some 440 nuclear power plants in 31 countries. More are on the way. Yet, no country on Earth has an operating high-level waste disposal facility.” There is overall sympathy for the workers and the exploitative owners are shown in their true colours. The horrors of the early days in the pits comes over vividly and the various catastrophes that the workers had to endure, and that the owners walked away from with the tiniest slap on the wrists, is described in such a way as to make the reader sad and angry. Inspired by a true story, Marguerite Henry continues her literary tradition of showcasing a love of horse (and mule) flesh for young