Recs if you like Coal: A Human History...

microhistory: the intensive historical investigation of a well defined smaller unit of research (such as an event, community, individual or a settlement); it aspires to "ask large questions in small places"

From dirt and sand, to rope and fabric, to coal and oil--nonfiction about seemingly simple materials and the ways they've influenced the course of human history.

Books about one very specific thing throughout history (feel free to leave recs in the comments :) )