Some evenings at The Bookery unfold in a way that gently widens the world, and our recent event with Philip Marsden and Sasha Swire was one of those. The conversation centred on Philip’s remarkable book, Under a Metal Sky, a work that explores humanity’s deep and complicated relationship with the minerals beneath our feet. Rooted in the landscapes of Cornwall, yet stretching across Europe and across centuries, the book traces how metals and minerals have shaped our tools, our technologies and even our imaginations.

Philip opened the evening by describing his book as an ecological exploration, though one that began in a very personal place. Cornwall, he explained, is a county carved through with the remnants of its mining past—a terrain he has spent years walking, researching and descending into. He spoke with warmth and humour about his fascination with the subterranean world, recalling the joy of being guided by experts into old mines and caverns and the sense of wonder that still strikes him when he steps into such hidden spaces.

From Sasha’s prompting Philip traced his lifelong interest in rocks back to his childhood: he was seven years old when he received a geological hammer and discovered the irresistible thrill of cracking open a rock or stone to reveal something unexpected. That early excitement never left him. Research, for Philip, is born from movement—travel, encounters, accidents—and he explained that Under a Metal Sky grew through this process of following his curiosity wherever it led. The book’s chapters each take their name from a mineral or metal: tin, bronze, silver, lithium, radium, copper, gold and more, with one chapter devoted solely to peat.

The discussion turned to the figures who animate the book, including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, best known for Faust but who Philip told us was also an obsessive collector of rocks and minerals. Philip described how Goethe—poet, philosopher and scientist—saw in minerals a key to understanding the structure of the world. Sasha guided the conversation into the realms of alchemy, and Philip explained how early thinkers believed metals were alive, evolving, striving towards higher forms, and that by understanding these transformations, humans might imitate or even accelerate them. It was a reminder of how deeply minerals have shaped not just our technologies but our dreams. Philip shared the marvellous fact that John Maynard Keynes bought many of Isaac Newton’s manuscripts & papers at auction in 1936.

Sasha asked about the physicality of Philip’s work—his willingness to climb, crawl and descend into the earth in search of stories. Philip nodded and said that the book is ultimately a travel narrative. Journeys, he explained, allow the unexpected to surface: conversations, encounters and stories that maps and archives alone cannot reveal. As the conversation turned to the future, Sasha raised the topic of mineral extraction beyond Earth itself. Philip suggested that if the last century was defined by the hunt for energy, the next will be defined by the hunt for minerals—copper, lithium and rare earth elements essential for modern technology.

The evening ended with thoughtful questions from the audience, including a moment of light‑hearted banter when it was pointed that Devon is the only county to have a geological age named after it. Philip and Sasha then moved into the bookshop from a community room signing books and lingering with readers who had clearly been captivated by the night’s blend of geology, history and human curiosity. Events like this remind us why we love bringing people together, which we are enthusiastic to continue to do so!

Signed copies of Under A Metal Sky and Sasha Swire’s Edgeland are available in store or online HERE