This newsletter installment explores why Britain shifted from wood to coal as its primary fuel source in the late sixteenth century, despite coal's inferior properties compared to peat and wood. The author challenges the common explanation of widespread deforestation, suggesting the actual history is more complex than simple fuel scarcity.
A newsletter article explores salt's overlooked historical importance in the 17th-18th centuries, when it was considered as essential as grain and fuel, shaped military campaigns, and significantly improved food quality and living standards, yet remains largely absent from economic histories of growth.