“Cobalt is an epic story of a mostly forgotten town. From the silver screen to Silicon Valley, from the Guggenheims to the Montreal Canadiens, from the predatory capitalism of the Gilded Age to the Cold War to the globalized mining industry of the twenty-first century, the power unleashed in Cobalt more than a century ago continues to reverberate in Canada and the world. It is a cautionary tale of a land and economy based on resource extraction, and, as a northerner, I was at once elevated and infuriated by the events recounted so masterfully in this book. With Cobalt, Charlie Angus has hit paydirt.” — James Daschuk, author of Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of Aboriginal Life

“Fantastic! Gripping! A page-turner. In telling the story of Cobalt, Ontario, Charlie Angus has told the story of Canada: the rapacious search for easy wealth, the plunder of nature and Indigenous lands, the abuse of women and ethnic minorities, and the creation of a Canadian mining industry still leaving its terrible footprint in the Global South. But Cobalt is also the story of resistance and reconciliation; the birth of union power and the rights of working people; the collective fight for health care, education, and social security for all; and the pursuit of justice. The book is filled with great stories, larger-than-life characters, and rich history. I highly recommend it.” — Maude Barlow, activist and author

“This immersive history includes a trenchant warning about the unknown costs of the race to a clean energy future.” — Publishers Weekly

“Charlie Angus passionately and comprehensively pulls apart the existing narrative about Northern Ontario by exploring the extraordinary history of an overlooked town … In deftly handled prose, Angus details the media manipulation, violence, and government collusion (or ineptitude) that would gradually turn mining corporations into superpowers that spin fictional stories of a ‘nicer’ frontier in Ontario’s north. In actuality, Cobalt suffered municipal dysfunction, disease, xenophobia, murder, and catastrophe, and ushered in an era where the land was transformed into a series of company towns in order to bolster economies in the south and grow a nation.” — Quill & Quire