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Algeria: anger of the dispossessed

The reason for collective agreement to use coal was economic: for the poor, coal guaranteed not only warmth inside their dwellings but also food, which arguably was even more important; for the rich, coal was a valuable resource that augmented their wealth. Therefore, any cases of social or political instability (including wars) and the scarcity of coal that resulted from them put this sort of stability in danger. Coal played a crucial socio-economic role, for ‘[t]hroughout both rural and urban England, then, fuel provision for the poor was an important aspect of the mutualities and obligations binding the rich and poor together’ (p. 109) – the example of bilateral co-dependence that literally united the neighbours throughout London. Coal began to play a crucial role in London’s economic life after the Great Fire in 1666, turning into the most ‘convenient and logical source of funds to rebuild the City’ (p. 136). The Smoke of London not only gives an excellent and well-researched survey of the history of London’s dependence on coal, its economic and social factors, but it also demonstrates how coal influenced the culture of that time, providing a detailed analysis of selected literary works that reflected the presence of coal in London life. Cavert scrutinises inter al John Evelyn’s Fumifugium, Peter Anthony Motteux’s Love’s a Jest, George Chapman, Ben Jonson, and John Marston’s Eastward Ho, Henry Glapthorne’s The Lady Mother, Thomas Shadwell’s Epsom Wells, Mary Pix’s The Innocent Mistress, and John Vanbrugh’s The Provok’d Wife. Cavert makes clear the cultural significance of coal through this literary recognition that it was a strong pollutant but also a ‘natural’ environment for Londoners. This book is an invaluable contribution to the fields of environmental history, British studies, and cultural studies, and will be of interest to both academic and general audiences. The book is a thoroughly researched history of the role that coal played in England, and specifically in London, prior to the Industrial Revolution – the important period that gave birth to eco-awareness. The Smoke of London reveals the multifaceted nature of coal in the years 1600–1800 through the analysis of economic, political, social, and cultural roles that the fossil played in London. Cavert stresses the danger and horror of environmental pollution, zeroing in on a limited geographic space, where people were literally trapped in what they believed brought them wealth, success, and stability, thus living their lives in the smoke of London. London’s air pollution today has much the same inevitability; and London, New Delhi and Beijing have a very long way to go before they act with the benefit of science to improve socio-economic conditions for their residents.