The first volume of "Coal - the Australian Story", published in 2019, serviced a wide readership of people with economic, technical, historical, industrial and regional interests in coal. This second volume has even wider appeal. Denis Porter not only completes the history of coal to the present time for those same readers but also will attract new ones. Those who worked in and lived through the exciting growth of coal of the last 50 years and those interested in the place of coal in the decades ahead will find this book compelling reading. Denis himself is such a person, having held senior positions in the mining industry during that time, including CEO of the New South Wales Minerals Council. This book chronicles coal mining in Queensland and New South Wales from 1970. Porter details the development of the industry, the changes in commercial ownership, foreign and local investment, employment, the impact on established coal communities and the growth of new ones, industrial relations issues, the involvement of governments, and the huge expansion of coal exports. -- From the Foreword