A Substantial Story of Our Past and Future

Material World

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER and RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK 
*An Economist, Financial Times, Times and New Statesman Book of the Year* 
Shortlisted for the FT Business Book of the Year Award and the British Academy Book Prize, Longlisted for the Wainwright Conservation Writing Prize 
 
'Compelling' TIM MARSHALL 
'Lively, rich and exciting' PETER FRANKOPAN 
'Vitally important' TIM HARFORD 
 
_____________ 
 
Sand, salt, iron, copper, oil and lithium. They built our world, and they will transform our future. 
 
They took us from the Dark Ages to the present day. They power our computers and phones, build our homes and offices, and create life-saving medicines. But most of us take these six crucial materials completely for granted. 
 
In Material World, Ed Conway travels the globe to uncover a secret world we rarely see. As we wrestle with climate change, energy crises and the threat of new global conflict, Conway shows why these substances matter more than ever before, and how the hidden battle to control them will shape our geopolitical future.

An eye-opening celebration of human ingenuity

Financial Times, Best Books of 2023 - Business

Lively, rich and exciting ... full of surprises. Underlines that to understand global geopolitics, you need to understand natural resources and geology

Peter Frankopan, author of THE SILK ROADS

The Times, Best Science and Environment Books of 2023

A compelling narrative of the human story

Tim Marshall, author of PRISONERS OF GEOGRAPHY

Financial Times - Best Summer Books of 2023: Economics

Fascinating, fun, and vitally important. A wonderful exploration of the world we've built yet somehow manage to ignore

Tim Harford, bestselling author of HOW TO MAKE THE WORLD ADD UP

Expansive, erudite, and edifying. A stunning insight into the materials that shaped our history and built the modern world

Prof. Lewis Dartnell, author of 'BEING HUMAN: How our Biology shaped World History'

[An] enlightening account... he throws new light on how the world works... Not a sentence jars in Material World

A vivid guide to the “material world” on which we all, often unconsciously, rely – and essential background reading to understand securonomics

'[Conway's] book deconstructs the modern world for us to see inside ... As we fret and argue about how to tackle climate change, economic development and geopolitical tensions, this book is a timely reminder of our reliance on physical stuff, and offers a challenging, practical perspective on these debates ... Enlightening

Goes straight on the 'must-read' list ... Conway is one of the most adroit commentators on economics and business of our time

A stunning book that will transform the way you think about economics and life. Brilliantly written

[A] masterful exploration of the materials that underpin civilisation . . . The biography of an element or material is now a familiar format . . . but what distinguishes Material World is his access . . . This is not a remote, academic analysis: he has been to the salt mines beneath the North Sea, the mineral railway of the Atacama Desert, the Chilean town being swallowed by the world's demand for copper

Conway's gripping explanation of a world you didn't know needed explaining deserves this highest of accolades: Material World, once read, leaves us baffled that nobody ever thought of writing it before

In Material World, Ed Conway uncovers the hidden history of the materials that structure our world. Full of colourful characters and fascinating connections, Material World shows how the seemingly simplest materials - from sand to salt to iron - require unbelievably complex refining and processing before arriving at their final form. Absorbing storytelling... Fascinating and insightful

One of the most interesting books I have read in a really, really long time. It's absolutely brilliant [...] buy it, right now

Ed Conway is a great thinker... Material World is an engrossing study of the basic substances on which we all depend. Anyone who cares about the resources which built our world and where mankind is heading must read this vital book

A masterful exploration of how materials shape our world more than ever - economically, geopolitically and environmentally

Diane Coyle CBE, Bennett Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge

A highly engaging and important look at the key materials powering our modern world, and how we feed our insatiable appetite for them

Professor Kenneth Rogoff, Professor of Economics at Harvard University and ex-Chief Economist of the IMF

Fascinating and forensic in equal measure... reveals the web of mining and manufacturing that underpins the lives of everyone on the planet

Mark Miodownik, author of STUFF MATTERS and UCL Professor of Materials & Society

Lively and impeccably written - a welcome addition to the way-the-world-works literature

Rich in revelations . . . [Conway’s] analogies bring the scientific processes to life . . . Offers a fascinating lens on the intricacies of the modern supply chain, the underappreciated science behind everyday objects, and the ways that subtle - and not so subtle - changes in governmental policies shift the role of these materials in the global economy

Eye-opening . . . packed with many surprising facts and statistics about our material world . . . Conway takes us on a memorable journey through the science, history, geology and economics of our material world. His enthusiasm for this crucial subject makes this a wonderfully readable guide to the substances and technologies that are essential for modern life

Guardian, This month's best paperbacks - August

Ed Conway

There are good reporters, and smart thinkers, and sharp writers - but Ed Conway is all three at once... A superb guide to the way the world economy sustains and frustrates us, and it's full of telling details and provocative ideas

The Ties That Bound Our Past and Could Unravel Our Future

From the award-winning and Sunday Times bestselling author of Material World, a story that will take you from ancient civilizations, empire and globalisation through to the most influential geopolitical issue of our times.The story of trade is the story of humanity. From the copper in Mesopotamian ploughs to the silicon atoms within the chip inside your smartphone, intricate global trading networks have evolved over millennia to fulfil the distinctly human desire to buy and sell. 
 
Today, the volume of trade bestriding the planet is unprecedented. Yet, as fractures in the global order emerge – from an era of globalisation and untrammelled flows of goods and money to a new world of restrictions, intervention and, possibly, war – understanding this fundamental shift to the dominant economic consensus is more important than ever. 
 
Ed Conway tells this extraordinary story through these three commonplace products – bread, cloth and cars. With a compelling blend of economic history and first-hand access to key figures and institutions, he takes us from policy treaties to ground level to show us the people who make, ship and sometimes smuggle the products we buy on a daily basis. 
 
Discover the hidden, shifting trade world behind everything you see around you.

Ed Conway

Praise for Trade World

There are good reporters, and smart thinkers, and sharp writers - but Ed Conway is all three at once... A superb guide to the way the world economy sustains and frustrates us, and it's full of telling details and ...

Books by Ed Conway

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