‘Joseph Conrad called colonial ventures in Africa “the vilest scramble for loot that ever disfigured the history of human conscience”. After reading this book you might want to add the words “until now”‘ The Times

How we became addicted to a supply chain that wreaks havoc across the globe.

Epic, shocking, and deeply reported, The Elements of Power tells the story of the war for the global supply of battery metals – essential for the decarbonization of our economies – and the terrible, bloody human cost of this badly misunderstood industry.

Congo is rich. Swaths of the war-torn African country lack basic infrastructure, and, after many decades of colonial occupation, its people are officially among the poorest in the world. But hidden beneath the soil are vast quantities of cobalt, lithium, copper, tin, tantalum, tungsten, and other treasures. Recently, this veritable periodic table of resources has become extremely valuable because these metals are essential for the global “energy transition”-the plan for wealthy nations to wean themselves off fossil fuels by shifting to sustainable forms of energy, such as solar and wind. The race to electrify the world’s economy has begun, and China has a considerable head start. From Indonesia to South America to Central Africa, Beijing has invested in mines and infrastructure for decades. But the U.S. has begun fighting back with massive investments of its own, as well as sanctions and disruptive tariffs.

In this rush for green energy, the world has become utterly reliant on resources unearthed far away and willfully blind to the terrible political, environmental, and social consequences of their extraction. If the Democratic Republic of the Congo possesses such riches, why are its children routinely descending deep into treacherous mines to dig with the most rudimentary of tools, or in some cases their bare hands? Why are Indonesia’s seas and skies being polluted in a rush for battery metals? Why is the Western Sahara, a source for phosphates, still being treated like a colony? Who must pay the price for progress?

With unparalleled, original reporting, Nicolas Niarchos reveals how the scramble to control these metals and their production is overturning the world order, just as the global race to drill for oil shaped the twentieth century. Exploring the advent of the lithium-ion battery and tracing the supply chain for its production, Niarchos tells the story both of the people driving these tectonic changes and those whose lives are being upended. He reveals the true, devastating consequences of our best intentions and helps us prepare for an uncertain future. If you have ever used a smartphone or driven an electric vehicle, you are implicated.

Praise for Petronella Ravenshear and The Human Being Diet:

‘Whisper it, but the secret weapon for weight loss among the sleekest, leanest women of southwest London is the Human Being Diet’ The Times

‘The remarkable results are incontrovertible.’ The Telegraph

‘Fashion set go wild for tough new nutrition plan’ Daily Mail

‘[Petronella Ravenshear] knows her stuff’ Tatler

‘Hailed for its transformative powers’ The Times

‘I like the HBD because it’s so simple, there’s no faffing around endlessly totting up calories or points.’

‘I feel renewed. I’d battled my relationship with food for so many years and now I’m healthy and I feel fantastic. It’s a feeling money can’t buy.’

Change the way you eat to change the way you feel.

The Human Being Diet is a revolutionary programme to help you become the best, healthiest, lightest, most energetic, happiest version of YOU.

These delicious recipes are based on the groundbreaking nutritional science of The Human Being Diet. Find out when to eat, what to eat and how much to eat to reset your metabolic rhythm and restore your health, resulting in perfect weight, boundless energy, flawless skin, healthy digestion and refreshing sleep.

We depend on a handful of metals and rare earths to power our phones and computers. Increasingly, we rely on them to power our cars and our homes. Whoever controls these finite commodities will become rich beyond imagining.

Sanderson journeys to meet the characters, companies, and nations scrambling for the new resources, linking remote mines in the Congo and Chile’s Atacama Desert to giant Chinese battery factories, shadowy commodity traders, secretive billionaires,  a new generation of scientists attempting to solve the dilemma of a ‘greener’ world.