Coal in the Geopolitical Coordinate System: Origins of the Industry, Trends, Prospects

Can one write the history of great empires based on coal deposits? Andrei Sizov explores how access to cheap energy determined the rise of Great Britain, how the struggle for coal and steel pushed Europe to World War I, and why the delay in developing coal basins became the Achilles' heel of the Russian Empire.
The author pays special attention to the fateful role of coal for Russia and the USSR: from foreign concessions and miners' uprisings to the total mobilization of the industry for industrialization and Victory. The painful collapse and revival of the coal industry in the 1990s and its new role in the 21st century are analyzed, when the fuel and energy complex found itself once again at the forefront of geopolitical confrontation.
In the finale of the book – a look into the future. Global demand has shifted East, and coal, just as it was centuries ago, remains a powerful tool in the great game of powers, a matter of economic security and energy for the growth of new giants like China and India.