"In this international bestseller, award-winning journalist and documentary-maker Guillaume Pitron reveals that, by breaking free of fossil fuels, we are in fact setting ourselves up for a new dependence — on rare metals such as cobalt, gold, and palladium. These are essential to electric vehicles, wind turbines, and solar panels, as well as our smartphones, computers, tablets, and other technologies. But we know very little about how rare metals are mined and traded, or their environmental, economic, and geopolitical costs; meanwhile, China has captured the lion’s share of the market and is using it to consolidate its position as a leading global power. Drawing on six years of research across a dozen countries, The Rare Metals War is a vital exposé of the ticking time-bomb that lies beneath our new technological order."

The rare metals curse -- The dark side of green and digital technologies -- Delocalised pollution -- The West under embargo -- High-tech hold-up -- The day China overtook the West -- The race for precision-guided missiles -- Mining goes global -- The last of the backwaters -- Epilogue..