Why read The Smoke of London?

Book cover of The Smoke of London: Energy and Environment in the Early Modern City

Book description

The Smoke of London uncovers the origins of urban air pollution, two centuries before the industrial revolution. By 1600, London was a fossil-fuelled city, its high-sulfur coal a basic necessity for the poor and a source of cheap energy for its growing manufacturing sector. The resulting smoke was found ugly…

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European history

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Smoke of London as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Eric H. Ash

Author

A fascinating look at the use of coal as a main fuel source in early modern London, the fearsome pollution that resulted from it, and efforts to understand and mitigate the effects of that pollution.

I think the most impressive aspect of this book is how many different approaches Cavert takes in examining his topic—political and legal history, history of science, social and economic history, even literary criticism. He argues that London was the first “modern” city in that it was the first to rely heavily on burning fossil fuels to provide the energy that powered its early industrial economy.

From Eric's list on The best books about early modern environmental history.