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Jonathon Porritt, Founder Director of Forum for the Future
Time is running out. Don't despair. Do get angry. Do get active. And do buy The Big Earth Book to get all that in perspective.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Patrick Holden, Director of the Soil Association
This is a wonderful book - really informative but written in a very clear, easy-to-read way
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
"But what can I, as an individual, do?" "Energy saving and buying organic costs so much - why should I?" "Global warming? But I thought that was all exaggerated?" If any of these thoughts have ever popped into your mind, or been thrown at you by friends, family, work colleagues, you need this book. Actually, we all need this book before The Big Earth, which really ain't so big after all, goes down the tube. If you want one book to draw the whole shebang of environmental, economic and social ideas together, this is it.
James Bruges covers just about every single global environmental issue in what at first looks like a weighty tome but in fact is both accessible and compelling. In short, sharp bursts the reader is led through Life, The Earth and Everything. The book is divided into 4 sections; The Elements, Money, Power and Life. In Elements he looks at Air, including ozone layers and global warming; Earth, including energy and carbon offset schemes; Fire, including gas, biofuels and nuclear energy; and Water, including fresh water and oceans. In Money he explains Systems, such as usury and greed, monetary reform and global eco-economy; Ideas such as Land Value Tax and Interest Free banking; and Community with issues such as basic needs and Wealth in Poverty. In Power he analyses Trade, covering issues such as thirds world debt and oil for dollars; War with a devastating analysis of the arms trade and terrorism and a picture of alternatives to violence in Tools For Peace; Corporate with a look at Shareholders "and the divine right of capital; and Empire, with a look at the US Empire and new empires in the East. Finally, in Life he looks at Nature, organic farming and soil; Food and GM and a truly terrifying account of the consequences to one scientist of speaking out; Science with excursions into Nanotechnology, Commercial Eugenics, Patenting Life.
The Big Earth Book is full of arresting insights and downright scary facts. If you buy baby sweet corn from Peru for your stir fries while worrying about house insulation and petrol you need to know that the typical family of four expends 40 comparative energy units on food whilst `only' using 17 on house heating and 15 on car use. The message being if you want to make a difference forget the car and the house - source your food locally and seasonally. And the book is full of ideas you can make effective in your own life, in your community's life and most important on a world scale. As Bruges points out, "Where governments fail to act, individuals can take the initiative - in how they travel, how they heat their homes, how they eat. Their choice of lifestyle will contribute to climate survival. It will also influence politicians who, having failed to lead, will be forced to follow."
You'll want The Big Earth Book for yourself - to show you not only why you should get angry but how you can get effective. You'll want it for your children, to explain to them all the bits you vaguely know but are having difficulty pulling together. And you'll want it for your friends, to show them why turning off lights and using your own shopping bag is so important. I've revised my shopping list for Christmas. Hope none of my friends read this - it will spoil the surprise as they're all getting it in their stockings!
James Bruges covers just about every single global environmental issue in what at first looks like a weighty tome but in fact is both accessible and compelling. In short, sharp bursts the reader is led through Life, The Earth and Everything. The book is divided into 4 sections; The Elements, Money, Power and Life. In Elements he looks at Air, including ozone layers and global warming; Earth, including energy and carbon offset schemes; Fire, including gas, biofuels and nuclear energy; and Water, including fresh water and oceans. In Money he explains Systems, such as usury and greed, monetary reform and global eco-economy; Ideas such as Land Value Tax and Interest Free banking; and Community with issues such as basic needs and Wealth in Poverty. In Power he analyses Trade, covering issues such as thirds world debt and oil for dollars; War with a devastating analysis of the arms trade and terrorism and a picture of alternatives to violence in Tools For Peace; Corporate with a look at Shareholders "and the divine right of capital; and Empire, with a look at the US Empire and new empires in the East. Finally, in Life he looks at Nature, organic farming and soil; Food and GM and a truly terrifying account of the consequences to one scientist of speaking out; Science with excursions into Nanotechnology, Commercial Eugenics, Patenting Life.
The Big Earth Book is full of arresting insights and downright scary facts. If you buy baby sweet corn from Peru for your stir fries while worrying about house insulation and petrol you need to know that the typical family of four expends 40 comparative energy units on food whilst `only' using 17 on house heating and 15 on car use. The message being if you want to make a difference forget the car and the house - source your food locally and seasonally. And the book is full of ideas you can make effective in your own life, in your community's life and most important on a world scale. As Bruges points out, "Where governments fail to act, individuals can take the initiative - in how they travel, how they heat their homes, how they eat. Their choice of lifestyle will contribute to climate survival. It will also influence politicians who, having failed to lead, will be forced to follow."
You'll want The Big Earth Book for yourself - to show you not only why you should get angry but how you can get effective. You'll want it for your children, to explain to them all the bits you vaguely know but are having difficulty pulling together. And you'll want it for your friends, to show them why turning off lights and using your own shopping bag is so important. I've revised my shopping list for Christmas. Hope none of my friends read this - it will spoil the surprise as they're all getting it in their stockings!
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
An angry passion has stimulated this bright and beautifully produced book which should be required reading for all non-specialist environmentalists.Remarkably informative two to three page digests of major topics and issues as diverse as Biofuel and Monetary Reform, the Arms Trade and the measurement of happiness are included.Paper,lay-out and some stunning photography all contribute to the feel of a good book. Direct quotes and useful final sections of References,Glossary and Index point the way to further reading for those who would go deeper. The author, an admirer of Ghandi, is intent on stimulating non-violent action but does not pull his punches in namimg and shaming incompetence or failure however high the office.
This reader was pleased to dip and mix from the book's huge agenda - there are many lighter moments as well as poems and apt quotations from the great and good. The earth will certainly get value for money from changes which readers may make after reading the Big Earth Book.
This reader was pleased to dip and mix from the book's huge agenda - there are many lighter moments as well as poems and apt quotations from the great and good. The earth will certainly get value for money from changes which readers may make after reading the Big Earth Book.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If the layout, with its colourful photographs, inset maps, information summaries and quotations recalls your GCSE text book - that's quite appropriate. It should be `back to school' for most of us to learn about the earth and life on it. Although attractive to look at and easy to pick up for quick reads, The Big Earth Book could not be a more serious text and one that has the immediate effect of concentrating the mind on what matters most.
Under four subject areas - The Elements, Money, Power and Life - this volume is divided into manageable, mostly 3-page chapters. Bruges' work is a digest of articles which challenge us to wake up: the shock and awe tactics of not just one source, but a bevy of thinkers both past and present. But this kind of shock and awe is only totally surprising if the reader has ignored all the news of the past few years. What the BE book does is bring together facts, warnings, proposals and solutions for a general audience to consider. And when you have read just a few of its diverse topics, connections begin to appear and many of its solutions start to make fundamental good sense.
For many people, reports of greenhouse gases remaining in the atmosphere for over 150 years, extreme drought affecting a third of the world's surface by 2100 and waves of stinger jellyfish as the result of over -fishing is disturbing but already partly apprehended information. What is exciting news is the existence of a Happy Planet Index, the New Economics Foundation and a suggested four-currency model to encourage fair trade, help the environment and stimulate national economic activity.
Scoring fairly high on the scale of curious facts is the commissioning of a report in 2002: 'Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance'. And if you think `global dimming' alludes to a collective consciousness focussed on meals round the glow of a television reality show - apt though that may be - think again. The Big Earth book should be required reading for all earth's citizens.
Under four subject areas - The Elements, Money, Power and Life - this volume is divided into manageable, mostly 3-page chapters. Bruges' work is a digest of articles which challenge us to wake up: the shock and awe tactics of not just one source, but a bevy of thinkers both past and present. But this kind of shock and awe is only totally surprising if the reader has ignored all the news of the past few years. What the BE book does is bring together facts, warnings, proposals and solutions for a general audience to consider. And when you have read just a few of its diverse topics, connections begin to appear and many of its solutions start to make fundamental good sense.
For many people, reports of greenhouse gases remaining in the atmosphere for over 150 years, extreme drought affecting a third of the world's surface by 2100 and waves of stinger jellyfish as the result of over -fishing is disturbing but already partly apprehended information. What is exciting news is the existence of a Happy Planet Index, the New Economics Foundation and a suggested four-currency model to encourage fair trade, help the environment and stimulate national economic activity.
Scoring fairly high on the scale of curious facts is the commissioning of a report in 2002: 'Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance'. And if you think `global dimming' alludes to a collective consciousness focussed on meals round the glow of a television reality show - apt though that may be - think again. The Big Earth book should be required reading for all earth's citizens.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Very inconsistent and biased - unreadable
Very inconsistent, unrealistic and utterly biased. A continues string of truisms. So inconsistent it feels like the chapters have been written by different authors. Read more
Published 11 months ago by cees
The Big Earth Book
This book is brilliant and ought to be in every home and school....NOW. Bruges has done a phenomenal amount of research but his skill is in re-tuning this vast subject into... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Marko
Big Earth - Big Book
I wasn't sure what to expect from this book but James Bruges doesn't fail to intrigue and challenge. Read more
Published on 13 Dec 2008 by Jennifer Pearce
A Brilliant Gift
I have to say I was given this book as a Christmas present last year, and it is definitely one of the best presents I got! Read more
Published on 1 Dec 2008 by S. Cowie
Fantastic
This book is just wonderful. The images are stunning, and entice you to pick it up to read. While we all listen to the news and hear about fuel running out, climate change and the... Read more
Published on 17 Sep 2008 by Alice Pickles
Fascinating stuff!
S. Hayman has reviewed the contents of The Big Earth Book excellently. I can just add that, as a person who knew virtually nothing about the world of global finance before reading... Read more
Published on 20 July 2008 by Iorras
Truly insprirational
This book is one of those books where by you become more interested with every page and before you know it, you are whizzing through the pages, engrossed in all of the new ideas... Read more
Published on 10 Oct 2007 by Mr. P. J. Wood
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