This book explores the extent to which the presence-or absence-of important raw materials has influenced the course of German history. It also explains that Germany occupies a unique position in world history because chemical inventions and the rise of a powerful chemical industry had a decisive impact on the country's destiny.

Amber, bronze and the first globalization of Europe

Table salt and the founding of cities
Silk, incense, alum and the Crusades
Silver and the Habsburg wars of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries
Gunpowder and the emergence of Prussia
Cellulose, Luther's pamphlets and dynamite
Coal, steel and Krupp cannons
Blue jeans, tar dyes and conflicts with the USA
Aspirin, epidemics and the rise of the pharmaceutical industry
Population explosion, artificial fertilizer and the munitions crisis
Chlorine and the war with poison gases
I. G. Farben, coal liquefaction and fuel for Hitler
Natural rubber, synthetic rubber and Auschwitz.