Love it or loathe it, you have to acknowledge that coal has played an important role in the history of the modern world. As the fuel of the Industrial Revolution it could be even said to have created the modern world.

Australia’s history with coal starts before the beginning. Aborigines in the Hunter area are thought to have burned coal in their fires. The Endeavour, the first European ship to see the area was a converted collier and Captain Cook learned his sailing in the coal trade..And it was in the Hunter region where Europeans first discovered coal for themselves in 1791.

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Denis Porter’s Coal, an Australian History, to be launched by Hon Ian Macfarlane CEO of the Queensland Resources Council, traces the twisting path of the mineral from those early days to the present where it is Australia’s second largest export earner, generates most of our electricity, and is the obsession of climate change campaigners.

It’s a fascinating story, well-told, and in its telling illuminates Australian history from a different direction. As a result you will notice things about our country you’d never noticed before.