"The story of civilization from an entirely new vantage point--the six raw materials that have shaped and will continue to shape humanity's destiny. Sand, iron, salt, oil, copper and lithium: The struggle for these fundamental materials has created empires, razed civilizations, and fed our ingenuity and our greed for thousands of years. It is a story that is far from finished. Though we are told we now live in a weightless world of information, we...

Follows the journey of metals we use everyday from Norilsk, Russia to the west by way of icebreaking ships

Detective Harriet Blue of the Sydney Police Department prides herself on an uncanny ability to catch the most deviant of criminals. So when her brother is charged with a brutal string of murders, it rocks her world. Shocked, in denial, and facing uncomfortable questions about how much she knew, Harry is transferred to avoid the media circus. Investigating the disappearance of a worker in an isolated mine deep inside the desolate Australian outback--the...

"A precocious student ambassador helps a former US president with an adventurous, educational mission in Zacatecas, Mexico, where rumors of a haunted mine are stopping his plans for urban development"--Provided by publisher.