While concerns about climate change have focused negative attention on the coal industry in recent years, as descendants of the Industrial Revolution we have all benefited from the mining of the black seam. Coal has influenced significantly the course of human history and our social and natural environments. This book explores coal’s industrial history and the extraordinary artistic responses to coal – in the works of numerous writers, including Zola, Lawrence and Orwell, to the way it inspired painters such as Turner, Monet and Van Gogh, and its place in film, song and folklore – as well as the surprising allure of coal tourism. This strikingly illustrated book provides an engaging and informative insight into the myriad ways coal has affected our lives.

PATRONAT

Muzeum Sztygarka

Muzeum "Górnośląski Park Etnograficzny w Chorzowie"

Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa