From the flint hand-axe of our earliest ancestors to the screen on which you read these words, nearly every object of modern life began its journey in a mine. This sweeping global history embarks on a journey through time to tell the epic story of humanity's relentless quest for the planet's resources. It reveals how the search for materials has been a primary engine of civilization, driving innovation, building empires, funding wars, and remaking societies. More than a technical account of extraction, this is a chronicle of discovery and destruction, of immense wealth and profound suffering, demonstrating that to understand the history of mining is to understand how we have shaped our world. The narrative traces the glint of metal and stone across the ages, revealing how mineral wealth was the catalyst for the rise and fall of great powers. Witness how the systematic quarrying of stone and gold made the monumental splendor of ancient Egypt possible, and how the silver dug from the Laurion mines funded the Athenian navy and the construction of the Parthenon. March with the Roman legions, whose power was forged from a continent-spanning iron industry, and sail with the Spanish galleons, laden with a river of silver from Potosí that would forever alter the global economy. This is a story that stretches from the sacred bronzes of ancient China to the salt and silver that fueled the rebirth of medieval Europe. Explore the transformative power of the minerals that created the modern world. Delve into the grime and glory of the Industrial Revolution, powered by the black rock of coal, and join the feverish stampedes of the great 19th-century gold rushes that settled new continents overnight. Uncover the brutal story of the scramble for Africa's diamonds and gold, and understand how the demand for strategic ores like tungsten and aluminum became a matter of national survival in a century of world wars. The story continues with the electrification of the planet on a web of copper, the rise of petroleum as the lifeblood of geopolitics, and the secretive Cold War hunt for the uranium that fueled the Atomic Age. Bringing the story to the cutting edge, this volume examines the forces shaping our own time and the future. Discover the hidden world of rare earth elements, the obscure metals that power our smartphones and green technologies, and confront the complex legacy of conflict minerals and the urgent push for ethical, sustainable sourcing. Finally, look beyond the