Cobalt Red

Siddharth Kara, an activist and researcher, travels into the cobalt-mining regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to document what the industry costs the people who work there. The question driving the book is who pays for the batteries inside smartphones, tablets, laptops and electric vehicles, and the answer comes largely from Congolese miners, who describe their lives in their own words.

This is non-fiction built on reporting and testimony. Kara enters mining areas held by militias and follows the supply chain of cobalt dug by children, from a toxic pit to the large technology companies that sell consumer products. He also records accounts from people who suffer severe harm, and from some who die, while mining.

The argument rests on a few hard facts. Cobalt goes into every lithium-ion rechargeable battery made today, and the Congo supplies roughly 75 percent of it, often dug by peasants and children in conditions the author calls sub-human. Kara contends that anyone who uses these devices shares responsibility for the human rights and environmental damage.

The book is an exposé, and it reads as a stark and serious one. It suits readers who want to understand the human and environmental cost of the technology they use daily, and who are prepared for harrowing first-hand accounts of abuse. It was shortlisted for the Financial Times Best Business Book of the Year Award.