'An extraordinarily ambitious, but arguably necessary task for our times' -- Paul Warde, Faculty of History, University of Cambridge 'Insightful, precise and well-written, Burning Up turns energy consumption on its head. Pirani fills a crucial gap left by a mountain of shiny but vacuous reports and not enough solid history ... Anybody fighting climate change should read this' -- Mika Minio-Paluello, campaigner at Platform London and co-author of The Oil Road: journeys from the Caspian Sea to the City of London (Verso, 2013) 'This meticulous depiction of how fossil fuels are woven into our human systems - not only technological but also economic, social and political - is an invaluable aid to getting them back under control' -- Walt Patterson, author of Electricity vs Fire (2015) 'Explains the technological, social and economic processes that have prioritised a particular way of satisfying society's demand for energy services' -- Michael Bradshaw, Professor of Global Energy, Warwick Business School, UK, author of Global Energy Dilemmas (2013) 'Burning Up is a vital contribution to the climate movement. A first step to organizing around its insights will be to ensure it is widely read in the movement, and by those whose lives will be affected by climate change' -- Climate and Capitalism 'Recommended' -- CHOICE 'This comprehensive book provides a modern history of global fossil fuel consumption. Authoritative and well researched, it provides a solid bedrock to understand the ins and outs of fuels' -- Bright Green 'An essential tool for understanding fossil fuel consumption in terms of the vested interests who have benefited from it' -- Ann Pettifor, Guardian