Blown to Bits in the Mine (Hardcover)

by Eric Twitty (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Blown to Bits in the Mine charts the evolution of the use of explosives for mining and quarrying in North America from the Industrial Revolution into the twentieth century. The art of blasting was of prime importance to mining because explosives enabled miners to move through solid rock as no other technology could. This book presents a detailed look at the whole process of using explosives, from drilling blast-holes to setting off the charges, with an emphasis on technology, material culture, and the impacts to the mine as a work environment. Everyone with a penchant for mining history will enjoy this book.

About the Author
At the age of seven, Eric Twitty became interested in mining history. Since then, he has made extensive trips to mining districts throughout the West in search of physical evidence and fact to compare against the numerous mining books he had read. In 1999, he completed a M.A. degree in American History from the University of Colorado. He then started a consulting business. He is currently researching, recording, analyzing and evaluating historic Colorado mines.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 220 pages
• Publisher: Western Reflections Publishing Company (January 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 189043714X
• ISBN-13: 978-1890437145
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,407,654 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book, May 3, 2007

By	Gene Butler (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews

This is a well written and informative book. It is useful both as a casual read and also helpful to anyone with a serious interest in western mining history. Lot's of illustrations from the period, and well footnoted.

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent treatment of a unique subject, July 19, 2008

By	John McCoy (Florida) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Covers the history of explosives in mining, from black powder thru high explosives to modern ANFO, with a primary emphasis on western hard-rock practice and dynamite type explosives.

The book is well written, and at the right level of detail to be comprehensible and interesting to a layman somewhat knowledgable in mining history.

Unfortunately the book suffers from very poor production, with many illustrations being scaled in strange ways, typographical errors, and sections of missing or repeated text. The quality of the author's writing deserved a better quality of reproduction.