Coal in Modern Britain - by Charles-François Mathis (Hardcover)

About the Book

An exploration of Britain's relationship with coal from the explosion of the coal industry in the 1830s to the 'coal-minded' society of the 1940s.

Book Synopsis

This is the first book to examine the social and cultural significance of coal in British society in the 19th and 20th centuries.
An English-language translation of Charles-François Mathis's award-winning study, Coal in Modern Britain gets to the heart of Britain's evolving relationship with this controversial energy source. How did the general public use and manage coal on a daily basis? Did they readily accept it, did they reject it, and how? What were the material and cultural features of a society so reliant on coal? Historians have long considered the political, technical, and economic structures of energy systems, but here the vital social and cultural contexts are crucially laid bare.

The book demonstrates how coal shaped the living environment and the ways of thinking of British people from the early 19th century through to the 'coal-minded' society of the 1940s that had become entirely focussed on this fuel as an energy source. Mathis emphasises the perspectives of ordinary consumers and looks at the 'energy cultures' that emerged in everyday life in Britain during the period. He looks at how coal impacted the land, cities and homes of modern Britain, along with the developing habits and routines surrounding coal use within the domestic setting. Coal in Modern Britain also reveals how coal was taught to children, both at school and at home, and how it was vehemently defended against its rivals of oil, electricity and gas during this peak time of fuel pre-eminence.

Review Quotes

"A richly researched and fascinating documentation of the centrality of coal to British society." --Rebecca Wright, Assistant Professor in History, Northumbria University, UK

"Full of fascinating insights, this book recovers the centrality of coal in people's lives in the first industrial nation. Essential reading for anyone concerned about energy transition and climate crisis." --Frank Trentmann, Professor of History, Birbeck University of London, UK

"Fossil fuel is a central force in modern life, yet for all its ubiquity and power, energy use has been strangely neglected by historians. By investigating the choices, habits, and beliefs that made Britain the first coal powered nation, Mathis' wonderful book offers not just a much needed and riveting cultural history of coal, but also a sobering picture of just how deeply the addiction to cheap energy is lodged in our institutions and everyday practices." --Fredrik Albritton Jonsson, Associate Professor of British History, The University of Chicago, USA

About the Author

Charles-François Mathis is Professor of Modern History and Chair of 19th-Century European History at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, France. He is the author of several award-winning history books in French and the co-author, along with Émilie-Anne Pépy, of Greening the City: Nature in French Towns from the 17th Century (2020).