Social impact of disasters Books

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Book SynopsisA landmark investigation into how communities respond to disasters, and what we can learn from these displays of altruism and generosity in the face of adversity.

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Book SynopsisWhen a plane crashes, a bomb explodes, a city floods or a pandemic begins, Lucy Easthope's phone starts to ring...________________THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER AND RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEKPROFILED IN THE NEW YORKERCHOSEN AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE TELEGRAPH AND THE NEW STATESMANAS FEATURED ON THE HIGH PERFORMANCE PODCAST AND FULL DISCLOSURE WITH JAMES O'BRIEN "Mixes disaster-grade C.S.I. with hiraeth, a Welsh word expressing a deep longing for something that is gone" NEW YORKER"A marvellous book" REV RICHARD COLES"Amazing book by an amazing woman" JAMES O'BRIEN"Gripping... filled with compassion." SUNDAY TIMES"Remarkable... hopeful and uplifting." MAIL ON SUNDAY"An antidote to despair" DAILY MIRROR"Enthralling... vivid and humane" OBSERVERLucy is a world-leading authority on recovering from disaster. She holds governments to account, supports survivors and helps communities to rebuild. She has been at the centre of the most seismic events of the last few decades, advising on everything from the 2004 tsunami and the 7/7 bombings to the Grenfell fire and the war in Ukraine. Lucy's job is to pick up the pieces and get us ready for what comes next.Lucy takes us behind the police tape to scenes of chaos, and into government briefing rooms where confusion can reign. She also looks back at the many losses and loves of her life and career, and tells us how we can all build back after disaster.When the Dust Settles lifts us up, showing that humanity, hope and humour can - and must - be found on the darkest days.Trade ReviewNever less than reassuringly humane... She shows and tells and, vitally, cares. * Telegraph *An unlikely superhero... this gripping memoir is full of compassion. A remarkable insight into the decisions involved in disaster planning. * Sunday Times *Easthope, whether she knows it or not, is that rare thing, a genuine philosopher thinking through what she is actually doing in the mitigation of human suffering. * New Statesman *The disasters recalled here often read like short stories, each of them filled with high drama, surreal twists and mysteries to be solved. * Guardian *'A remarkable account...This should be a dark and depressing read; that it isn't, that it is ultimately hopeful and uplifting, is down to the utter human decency that the author represents' * Mail on Sunday *An essential, uplifting read, brimming with humanity, humility and humour. * Sue Black *An entirely unique vision of the human experience * Irish Times *Candid, unsettling and darkly funny * Sunday Post *Poignant, funny, analytical and profoundly humane * Perspective Magazine *Dauntless and forthright * TLS *Deeply humane, occasionally unsettling, and strangely uplifting * Irish Business Post *A book of horror and hope, written with rare humanity. * John Sutherland *When the Dust Settles taught me is that all experiences are of value... Easthope shows us how perfection and imperfection are woven together. Everything is flawed. Yet there is also hope despite the flaws. * Rachel Kelly *Her sensitive and profoundly moral book explores how human beings can preserve their resilience and live with loss. * New Statesman *Rewrites your perceptions of the disasters and wars of our lifetime with vivid details and vignettes... laced with humanity and decency. A literary memento which honours the messy truth of life.' * The Critic *An inspiring memoir. Easthope advises, supports and helps to rebuild lives. * Yorkshire Post *A riveting no-nonsense memoir that pulls back the curtains on your worst fears and shows you that someone, somewhere, will always truly care. * Jenny Colgan *Outstanding... a graphic but deeply humane account of what drew her to take on such work, and how she steels herself to tackle the worst of human scenarios. * The Bookseller *

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Book SynopsisTHE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER''A gentle and uplifting tale of warding off apocalypse in a remote corner of Cornwall . . . charming'' Financial Times''A tremendously enjoyable book'' Independent on Sunday''Bloody brilliant'' Liz Fenwick, author of The Cornish HouseIt all began with the whale.When a young man washes up on the sands of St Piran in Cornwall, it is clear to the villagers that this is not a regular day. What has brought him here? And what is the crisis only he understands, that threatens not only their community but all of civilisation?With a global pandemic on the horizon, and a whale lurking in the bay, the villagers of St Piran must band together to survive. Intimate, funny and heart-warming, John Ironmonger tells a compelling story about the important things that hold us together, and how hope can be found, even at the end of the world.''A warm-hearted booTrade Reviewa warm-hearted book crammed with interesting ideas. It's a book full of doomsday predictions with a Cityboy in a starring role that makes the world seem like a more hopeful place. It's also very, very good. * EMERALD STREET *This is a tremendously enjoyable book. And as the front pages crowd with headlines that grow ever more grim, Not Forgetting the Whale offers a very welcome alternative. -- Marianne Levy * INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY *An intriguing and thought-provoking story * CANDIS *An exciting and moving read * ESSENTIALS *The lives of the residents in sleepy St Piran is changed when a man washes up, half drowned, on the shore of the Cornish seaside village. * THE TIMES *It's easy to see this simply as a modern interpretation of the story of Jonah and the whale, but this charming tale by John Ironmonger.. is considerably more complex.. it's a love story of sorts and, above all, it's about hte innate goodness of people and our connections with the wider world * PRESS ASSOCIATION *A gentle and uplifting tale of warding off apocalypse in a remote corner of Cornwall . . . charming * FINANCIAL TIMES *This book achieves what should be impossible: a heart-warming dystopia. Forget everything you know about apocalypses. This novel, set in Cornwall, will restore your faith in humanity. * ELLE UK *

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Book SynopsisWinner of the Duff Cooper and Lionel Gelber prizesIn 1932-33, nearly four million Ukrainians died of starvation, having been deliberately deprived of food. It is one of the most devastating episodes in the history of the twentieth century. With unprecedented authority and detail, Red Famine investigates how this happened, who was responsible, and what the consequences were. It is the fullest account yet published of these terrible events.The book draws on a mass of archival material and first-hand testimony only available since the end of the Soviet Union, as well as the work of Ukrainian scholars all over the world. It includes accounts of the famine by those who survived it, describing what human beings can do when driven mad by hunger. It shows how the Soviet state ruthlessly used propaganda to turn neighbours against each other in order to expunge supposedly ''anti-revolutionary'' elements. It also records the actions of extraordinary iTrade ReviewMeticulously researched, blisteringly written -- Dominic Sandbrook * The Sunday Times (Books of the Year) *Magisterial and heartbreaking -- Simon Sebag Montefiore * Evening Standard *Compelling in its detail and in its empathy -- Nick Rennison * The Sunday Times *Her account will surely become the standard treatment of one of history's great political atrocities -- Timothy Snyder * Washington Post *An exhaustive, authoritative and eloquent book. She deals with questions that have hitherto lacked unequivocal answers -- Donald Rayfield * Literary Review *

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Book Synopsis*WINNER OF THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2018**WINNER OF THE PUSHKIN HOUSE BOOK PRIZE 2019*''As moving as it is painstakingly researched. . . a cracking read'' Viv Groskop, Observer''A riveting account of human error and state duplicity. . . rightly being hailed as a classic'' Hannah Betts, Daily TelegraphOn 26 April 1986 at 1.23am a reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Soviet Ukraine exploded. While the authorities scrambled to understand what was occurring, workers, engineers, firefighters and those living in the area were abandoned to their fate. The blast put the world on the brink of nuclear annihilation, contaminating over half of Europe with radioactive fallout.In Chernobyl, award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy draws on recently opened archives to recreate these events in all their drama. A moment by moment account of the heroes, perpetrators and victims of a trTrade ReviewAn insightful and important book, that often reads like a good thriller, and that exposes the danger of mixing powerful technology with irresponsible politics -- Yuval Noah Harari, author of SapiensAs moving as it is painstakingly researched, this book is a tour de force and a cracking read. . . Without losing any detail or nuance, Plokhy has a knack for making complicated things simple while still profound -- Viv Groskop * Observer *A work of deep scholarship and powerful stroytelling. Plokhy is the master of the telling detail -- Victor Sebestyen * Sunday Times *A compelling history of the 1986 disaster and its aftermath. . . Plokhy's well-paced narrative plunges the reader into the sweaty, nervous tension of the Chernobyl control room -- Daniel Beer * Guardian *The first comprehensive history of the Chernobyl disaster. . . here at last is the monumental history the disaster deserves -- Julie McDowall * The Times *Plokhy, a Harvard professor of Ukrainian background, is ideally placed to tell the harrowing story of Chernobyl. . . he has an immense knowledge of Russian and Ukrainian history and maintains the highest standards of scholarship -- Tony Barber * Financial Times *A meticulous account of the disaster - and how the Soviet authorities tried to cover it up. . . A worthy winner of this year's Baillie Gifford prize for nonfiction -- Robbie Millen * The Times Books of the Year *A riveting account of human error and state duplicity. . . rightly being hailed as a classic -- Hannah Betts * Daily Telegraph *A masterful retelling. . . Mr Plokhy's book will endure as a definitive history * Economist *

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Book SynopsisWinner of the Moore Prize for Human Rights Writing in 2023 "This book will stay with me for years." ADAM KAY, author of This is Going to Hurt "Black puts a human and profoundly humane face on what it's like to be a doctor." FORBES A brilliant, painful and honest book. Read it. MARY HARPER, BBC Africa Editor Benjamin Black has the most amazing gift for telling a story. I could not put the book down. VICTORIA MACDONALD, Channel 4 News Courage meets crisis in a doctor''s extraordinary true account on the frontlines of maternal healthcare during a deadly epidemic in Sierra Leone. In May 2014, as the country grapples with the highest maternal mortality rate globally, a new, invisible threat emerges: Ebola. Dr. Benjamin Black finds himself at the centre of the outbreak. From the life-and-death decisions on the maternity ward to moral dilemmas in the Ebola Treatment Centers, every moment is a crossroads where a single choice could tip the balance between survival and catastrophe. The tension is palpable, and the stakes are unimaginably high. One mistake, one error of judgment, could spell disaster. Belly Woman is a powerful piece of reportage and advocacy that draws parallels between two global outbreaks of infectious diseases: Ebola and COVID-19. Black''s firsthand experience on the frontlines of a global health crisis bears witness to the raw emotions, tough decisions, such as the need to carry out medically-mandated abortions to save lives, and the unwavering dedication that defines the lives of those who step up when the world needs them most. Compelling for readers with an interest in medical memoirs, social justice, and humanitarianism, as well as healthcare professionals and maternal health caregivers.

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Book SynopsisThe fire was visible from seventy miles away and the heat generated was so intense that a helicopter could only circle the rig at a perimeter of one mile. On the surface of the sea, a converted fishing trawler inched as close as possible, but the paint on the vessel’s hull blistered and burnt. In the water surrounding the inferno, men’s heads could be seen bobbing like apples as their yellow hard hats melted with the heat.On 6 July 1988 a series of explosions ripped through the Piper Alpha oil platform, 110 miles north-east of Aberdeen in the North Sea. Ablaze with 226 men on board, the searing temperatures caused the platform to collapse in just two hours. Only sixty-one would survive by leaping over 100 feet into the water below.Newly updated for the thirtieth year since the tragedy, Fire in the Night by journalist Stephen McGinty tells in gripping detail the devastating story of that summer evening. Combining interviews with survivors, witness statements and transcripts from the official inquiry into the disaster, this is the moving and vivid tale of what remains the worst offshore oil-rig disaster to date.Trade ReviewFire in the Night is rare and riveting, among the classics of Scottish reporting. -- Andrew O’HaganGenuinely gripping reading...[McGinty] has an eye for the illuminating detail, both human and technical * The Scotsman *The stories of how survivors escaped from 'the inferno' of the rig are truly heart-stopping * The Herald (Glasgow) *

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Book SynopsisIt was 8.46 a.m. on 9/11 when Elia Zedeño, who had worked in the World Trade Center for twenty-one years, heard a booming explosion and felt the building lurch violently to the south. She grabbed her desk, taking her feet off the floor, and screamed, ''What''s happening?''How would you react to a disaster? Would you be paralysed with fear? Would you panic and lose control? Or might you suddenly discover hidden strengths in yourself?In The Unthinkable, award-winning journalist Amanda Ripley investigates some of the most harrowing catastrophes in history in order to piece together exactly how we react in a crisis. Through compelling interviews with survivors and experts she uncovers our instinctive reactions, shows how primitive parts of our brains take over when we''re put under pressure, and demonstrates that we can, in fact, train ourselves to do better.We all have a ''disaster personality'' that reveals itself at moments of crisis. In The UnthinkaTrade ReviewA must read. We need books like this to help us understand the world in which we live. -- Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of 'The Black Swan' and 'Fooled By Randomness'A fascinating book ... The Unthinkable is part study of the science of reaction to extreme fear, part indictment of the US government's response to the terrorist threat, part call to arms -- Robert Crampton * The Times *Excellent and accessible study of how people react in disasters ... aside from the sound advice, one of the main strengths of this book is the wealth of anecdotal material and startling facts' 4 stars * London Lite *Ripley's survey of a vast area of research is impressively handled and eminently readable and, should disaster strike, the insights she provides into how you and those around you may respond might just save your life * New Humanist *Spiced with surprising factoids, this book might save your life one day. Just don't read it on a trans-Atlantic flight * Bloomberg *

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Book SynopsisThe body as a measuring tool for planetary harm. A nervous system under increasing stress. In this urgent collection that moves from the personal to the political and back again, writer, activist, and migrant Jessica Gaitán Johannesson explores how we respond to crises. She draws parallels between an eating disorder and environmental neurosis, examines the perils of an activist movement built on non-parenthood, dissects the privilege of how we talk about hope, and more. The synapses that spark between these essays connect essential narratives of response and responsibility, community and choice, belonging and bodies. They carry vital signals.Trade Review‘The climate crisis is nerve-racking … Jessica Gaitán Johannesson’s collection of essays offers an expansive constellation of responses … Her writing resists empty answers, striving instead for ethical rigour and nuance. This is a poetic, bodily thinking. Short, fragmented lyric poems appear between each essay, intensifying and expanding the connections … It’s the kind of writing that is as bracing as it is sobering.’ -- Andy Jackson * The Saturday Paper *‘The Nerves and Their Endings is a beautifully written, original collection of essays that explores identity, place, home, and hope. These essays ask how we might not only live in a time of climate collapse, but how we might work towards a better future also — one of community, shared understanding, and tenderness, even in the face of such terrible inequality, cruelty, loss, and disaster. This is a book that’s truly necessary for our moment.’ -- Rebecca Tamás, author of Strangers: essays on the human and nonhuman‘Jessica Gaitán Johannesson “stays with the trouble” of climate, environmental, and social injustice with a searching honesty. Tangled, raw, and sparking with intelligence, The Nerves and Their Endings shows how the personal and the political, the human body and the earth’s body, are knotted together. As living, feeling, thinking beings our nervous system connects with the world’s systems. When the world is sick, we are too. [Gaitán Johannesson] challenges the tunnel vision of fear-based responses to the multiplying crises of our times, while alert to the unevenness of the suffering caused, the cushioning afforded by privilege, and the responsibility to act that this implies. She asks the hard questions and tackles them with integrity and an open heart. There are no trite answers offered here, rather, an honest exploration of what “hope” might look and feel like in these times, and why we need it in order “not to feel responsible but to ably respond”.’ -- Samantha Clark, author of The Clearing‘A pained, dedicated book, which thinks with care about how planetary, personal, and political are inseparable. It seeks out what matters, and where there is most at stake. I found its stories of ecological crisis and intimate experience absorbing, Gaitán Johannessen has a clear analytical voice and a gently deprecating sense of humour.’ -- Daisy Hildyard, author of Emergency‘The Nerves and Their Endings is both important and beautiful. Jessica Gaitán Johannesson writes compellingly about the need to view the climate crisis in a wider context. We should all be listening to her.’ -- Jessie Greengrass, author of The High House‘Through these remarkable personal essays and poetry on crisis and climate, crystal clear and unflinching, Jessica Gaitán Johannesson allows us the space to absorb and respond to our own intimate histories while considering the ways we connect (and can be of use to) to the world around us. Truly a talent, this a powerful, generous, community-minded book, and I feel wiser and more empowered for having read it.’ -- Niven Govinden, author of Diary of a Film‘The Nerves and Their Endings captures the terrifying freefall of the current moment, stripping away the illusory membrane that separates us from each other and from past and future, and showing, with remarkable elegance and intelligence, the transformative effect of that recognition.’ -- James Bradley, author of Ghost Species‘The Nerves and Their Endings beautifully presents the manifest ways our current global crisis intersects with personal experience of crises. Across a broad range of compelling and lyrical essays, Jessica generously gifts us her own narratives and knowledge, of the type that is as bodily as it is metaphysical. She has produced an emotive and detailed map from which we can learn and change, just as we must from the catastrophe itself.’ -- Alice Hattrick, author of Ill Feelings‘The Nerves and Their Endings is a beautiful book full of solidarity, grief, and love. Jessica writes with a soft, ardent touch about the climate crisis, the climate movement, and living across borders. I felt I was being spoken to by a friend and also by a poet.’ -- Yara Rodrigues Fowler, author of there are more things‘The Nerves and Their Endings is a deft, clear-eyed, and deeply felt essay collection that not only articulates the immense loss, complicity, and powerless felt in the capitalist West against the rising waters, but also the hope that enlivens good political writing always: the hope that when we look and think and move together — implicated, entangled — we grow the nerve to align in action. Jessica Gaitán Johannesson is a humane, original, and extremely talented writer, and this collection is a true pleasure to read and think with.’ -- Ellena Savage, author of Blueberries‘I devoured this bold, experimental collection of essays … Moving, funny, and fierce.’ -- Mairi Oliver & Jim Taylor * The Bookseller *‘Each line in this short book bears careful reading … an evolving, lyrical, and unrelenting analysis of the accelerating climate crisis, which in its short pages offers critique of capitalism, racism, colonialism, capitalism, racism, colonialism, patriarchy, and the contradictions within the climate movement itself.’ -- Frieda Klotz * Sunday Independent *‘Bold and deeply affecting.’ * The Skinny *‘In these elliptical, probing essays, Johannesson mines her own life – her experience of anorexia, her mother’s illness and death, her inner conflict over her work as an activist – to wrestle with larger philosophical questions about the illusion of self-sufficiency and control, the social inequities the climate crisis exposes, the ethical responsibilities inherent in bringing children into the world, and finally, what hope might look like in times like this.’ * The Sydney Morning Herald *‘These lyrical essays by bookseller Johannesson contemplate the consequences of impending climate collapse … Johannesson’s prose has a quiet, entrancing pull, and she cleverly structures her pieces to highlight unexpected connections, driving home her vision of interconnectedness. Understated and moving, this ruminative outing resonates.’ * Publishers Weekly *Praise for How We Are Translated: ‘How We Are Translated is the most contemporary of novels; set somehow both in the now and in the distant past; in one city that could be many cities, and in two different languages, though also in defiance of language, with as much focus on the silences between words as the words themselves. It’s a novel that maintains just the right balance of oddity, intimacy, and illumination. It’s a novel that anyone interested in the future of the English novel needs to read!’ -- Sara Baume, author of Spill Simmer Falter WitherPraise for How We Are Translated: ‘A novel brimming with ideas and promise.’ -- Lucy Knight * The Sunday Times *Praise for How We Are Translated: ‘One of the gentlest and most patient, humane, and quirky things I have read in a long time … Hugely original.’ -- Niamh Campbell, author of This Happy

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Book SynopsisA compelling history of the Black Death that scoured Europe in the mid 14th-century killing twenty-five million people. It was one of the worst human disasters in history.The bodies were sparsely covered that the dogs dragged them forth and devoured themAnd believing it to be the end of the world, no one wept for the dead, for all expected to die.' Agnolo di Turo, Siena, 1348In just over a thousand days from 1347 to 1351 the ''Black Death'' travelled across medieval Europe killing thirty per cent of its population. It was a catastrophe that touched the lives of every individual on the continent. The deadly Y. Pestis virus entered Europe in October 1347 by Genoese galley at Messina, Sicily. In the spring of 1348 it was devastating the cities of central Italy, by June 1348 it had reached France and Spain, and by August England. At St Mary's, Ashwell, Hertfordshire, an anonymous hand carved the following inscription for 1349: Wretched, terrible, destructive year, the remnants of the peoplTrade Review‘Kelly is a fair-minded and reliable guide, with a gift for providing racy and vivid background for those who know nothing of the Middle Ages.’ Independent on Sunday ‘There has never been a better researched, better written or more engaging account of the worst epidemic the world has ever known than this.’ Simon Winchester, author of ‘The Professor and the Madman and Krakatoa’ ‘Kelly approaches the story of the greatest tragedy in history like a forensic detective who must first recreate the life of the victims before examining their deaths. While writing with a keen eye for the telling details of the past, Kelly’s book might also be a warning about our own future.’ Jack Weatherford, author of ‘Genghis Khan’

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A Foreign Affairs Best of Books""Readers will appreciate the care that went into this work as well as the depth of the authors’ findings, which highlight just how extensively partisanship shaped the public’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This book is destined to end up on the shelf of anyone interested in public health and public opinion."---Matthew S. Levendusky, Science"A solid work of history attempting to assess one of the most historic events of the 21st century."---Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Review

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Book SynopsisCHOSEN AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY SUNDAY TIMES AND HISTORY TODAY''Absolutely stunning. . . a formidable achievement. A six-part historical thriller that is essential reading for both our politicians and the ordinary citizen'' Kai BirdBest-selling historian Serhii Plokhy returns with an illuminating exploration of the atomic age through the history of six nuclear disasters In 2011, a 43-foot-high tsunami crashed into a nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan. In the following days, explosions would rip buildings apart, three reactors would go into nuclear meltdown, and the surrounding area would be swamped in radioactive water. It is now considered one of the costliest nuclear disasters ever. But Fukushima was not the first, and it was not the worst. . .In Atoms and Ashes, acclaimed historian Serhii Plokhy tells the tale of the six nuclear disasters that shook the world: Bikini Atoll, Kyshtym, Windscale, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima. Based on wide-ranging research and witness testimony, Plokhy traces the arc of each crisis, exploring in depth the confused decision-making on the ground and the panicked responses of governments to contain the crises and often cover up the scale of the catastrophe.As the world increasingly looks to renewable and alternative sources of energy, Plokhy lucidly argues that the atomic risk must be understood in explicit terms, but also that these calamities reveal a fundamental truth about our relationship with nuclear technology: that the thirst for power and energy has always trumped safety and the cost for future generations.Trade ReviewA timely and enthralling study of the atomic age and its perils . . . a meticulously researched history -- Lawrence Freedman * Financial Times *A superbly crafted but enormously frightening history of nuclear disasters . . . without ever preaching, Plokhy constructs a formidable case for consigning nuclear power to the past -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times *Plokhy's gripping, measured accounts of human error and staggering heroism in the face of the terrifying forces of nuclear power get under the skin -- Simon Ings * The Telegraph *Frightening . . . With catastrophic climate change bearing down on us, nuclear power has been promoted by some as an obvious solution, but this sobering history urges us to look hard at that bargain for what it is -- Jennifer Szalai * New York Times *A revealing tour of some of the most terrifying experiences involving nuclear power. Plokhy excels in unpacking the human and systemic factors that contribute to nuclear disasters * Nature *Gripping . . . Plokhy combines newspaper interviews, memoirs, government reports and secondary sources to give a vivid account of the perils of nuclear power * TLS *Expertly concise. . . this account of the downhill slide of atomic power since its heyday in the 1950s illustrates why it can never be the solution to global heating -- Robin McKie * Observer *Absolutely stunning. A formidable achievement. Plokhy has written a six-part historical thriller that is essential reading for both our politicians and the ordinary citizen. We have survived the Nuclear Age for three-quarters of a century, but this book calmly reminds us that accidents happen?and will surely happen again. His stories of nuclear accidents are riveting and frightening -- Kai Bird, co-author of American Prometheus

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Book SynopsisAn optimistic vision of the future after Covid-19 by a leading professor of globalisation at the University of Oxford.Covid-19 left us at a crossroads: should we go back to 'normal', or use the lessons learned during the pandemic to shape a new society?But what does life after a pandemic look like, and how do we build a better, more hopeful future?Ian Goldin, Professor of Development and Globalisation at the University of Oxford, provides an urgently needed roadmap that reveals how the pandemic could lead to a better world: from globalisation to the future of jobs, income inequality, and climate change.Rescue is a bold call for an optimistic future and one we all have the power to create.Trade ReviewA hopeful book . . . Goldin makes the case that this may be the moment when we reshape our individual and collective destiny -- Richard Baldwin * Financial Times *Ian Goldin gives us a bold, compelling account of the lessons of the pandemic: after four decades of neoliberal market thinking, big government is back. Only an activist state can deal with inequality, climate change, and future pandemics. This important book shows that we need not a "reset" but a fundamental rethinking of capitalism if we are to build more just, resilient societies. -- Michael J. Sandel, author of The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good?A fresh and penetrating insight from one of the great authorities on globalisation into what's gone wrong with our world and what needs to be put right. -- Gordon Brown, United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education and former Prime Minister of the United KingdomEssential reading for anyone interested in making the world a better place. Rescue provides an urgently needed roadmap for us all. -- Arianna Huffington, Founder & CEO, Thrive GlobalRescue gives us hope that we can come together to build forward better and shape societies and economies that are fairer, greener and more inclusive. Ian Goldin's prescriptions for investing in people and the planet, and with strong international cooperation, show us how we can create a world that works for all. -- Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary FundIan Goldin offers an insightful perspective on the injustices and crises besetting today's world. His book deserves wide readership - indeed one would like to hope that his wisdom will influence the political leaders who confront the challenge of "building back better" after Covid-19. -- Lord Martin Rees, Astronomer RoyalIan Goldin's Rescue is an optimistic and insightful analysis of the pros as well as the cons of the pandemic and seeks to assess its potential to reshape our lives for the better. To paraphrase his words and the essence of the title - can the pandemic go down in history as the event that rescued humanity? Goldin brings statistics alive in this optimistic analysis of the positive as well as the negative impact of the pandemic - it is a beacon of hope for the future. -- Lord Norman FosterThis well-researched book shows us what is wrong with our current economic model and provides a convincing clarion call for change after the pandemic. -- Baroness Minouche Shafik, Director, London School of EconomicsProfessor Ian Goldin is mapping the short- and long-term consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic in his excellent book Rescue. We know that some negative effects will linger for a long time in our societies and economies, but there is also hope of a brighter future. Professor Goldin points out that something better can come out of this if we make a joint effort to reset our communities on a more sustainable path. This well-written book gives hope of a better future. -- Cécilia Malmström, former European Commissioner for TradeIn this broad-ranging book, Ian Goldin aptly views the West's failure to address at all adequately the Covid-19 virus as emblematic of widespread national failures. To get out of this dystopia, he argues, nations will have to create nothing less than "a different operating system" and they must cooperate far more than in the past. This radical book is a must-read. -- Professor Edmund Phelps, economist and Nobel LaureateRescue is a wise and hopeful book. As the world begins to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, Ian Goldin has assembled an extraordinary range of data to assess its impact and identify opportunities for transformative change. Just the tonic weary readers need! -- Professor Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America

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Book SynopsisExamining a series of El Niño-induced droughts and the famines that they spawned around the globe in the last third of the 19th century, Mike Davis discloses the intimate, baleful relationship between imperial arrogance and natural incident that combined to produce some of the worst tragedies in human history. Late Victorian Holocausts focuses on three zones of drought and subsequent famine: India, Northern China; and Northeastern Brazil. All were affected by the same global climatic factors that caused massive crop failures, and all experienced brutal famines that decimated local populations. But the effects of drought were magnified in each case because of singularly destructive policies promulgated by different ruling elites. Davis argues that the seeds of underdevelopment in what later became known as the Third World were sown in this era of High Imperialism, as the price for capitalist modernization was paid in the currency of millions of peasants' lives.Trade ReviewDavis has given us a book of substantial contemporary relevance as well as great historical interest...this highly informative book foes well beyond its immediate focus. -- Amartya Sen * The New York Times *Davis's range is stunning...He combines political economy, meteorology, and ecology with vivid narratives to create a book that is both a gripping read and a major conceptual achievement. Lots of us talk about writing 'world history' and 'interdisciplinary history': here is the genuine article. -- Kenneth Pomeranz, author of The Great DivergenceThe global climate meets a globalizing political economy, the fundamentals of one clashing with the fundamentalisms of the other. Mike Davis tells the story with zest, anger, and insight. -- Stephen J. Pyne, author of World FireDavis, a brilliant maverick scholar, sets the triumph of the late-nineteenth-century Western imperialism in the context of catastrophic El Niño weather patterns at that time ... This is groundbreaking, mind-stretching stuff. * Independent *Late Victorian Holocausts will redefine the way we think about the European colonial project. After reading this, I defy even the most ardent nationalist to feel proud of the so-called 'achievements' of empire. * Observer *Devastating. * San Francisco Chronicle *Eloquent and passionate, this is a veritable Black Book of liberal capitalism. -- Tariq AliGenerations of historians largely ignored the implications [of the great famines of the late nineteenth century] and until recently dismissed them as 'climatic accidents'...Late Victorian Holocausts proves them wrong. * Los Angeles Times (Best Books of 2001) *Wide ranging and compelling...a remarkable achievement. * Times Literary Supplement *A masterly account of climatic, economic and colonial history. * New Scientist *A hero of the Left, Davis is part polemicist, part historian, and all Marxist. -- Dale Peck * Village Voice *The catalogue of cruelty Davis has unearthed is jaw-dropping . Late Victorian Holocausts is as ugly as it is compelling. -- Sukhdev Sandhu * Guardian *Controversial, comprehensive, and compelling, this book is megahistory at its most fascinating-a monument to times past, but hopefully not a predictor of future disasters. * Foreign Affairs *Devastating. * San Francisco Chronicle *

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Book Synopsis''Magisterial ... Immensely readable'' Douglas Alexander, Financial Times''Insightful, productively provocative and downright brilliant'' New York Times A compelling history of catastrophes and their consequences, from ''the most brilliant British historian of his generation'' (The Times) Disasters are inherently hard to predict. But when catastrophe strikes, we ought to be better prepared than the Romans were when Vesuvius erupted or medieval Italians when the Black Death struck. We have science on our side, after all. Yet the responses of many developed countries to a new pathogen from China were badly bungled. Why? While populist rulers certainly performed poorly in the face of the pandemic, Niall Ferguson argues that more profound pathologies were at work - pathologies already visible in our responses to earlier disasters. Drawing from multiple disciplines, including economics and network science, Trade ReviewMagisterial reach ... immensely readable ... Ferguson [applies] his prodigious intellect to placing the present pandemic on a wider historic canvas. -- Douglas Alexander * Financial Times *This is not just about a virus but a collision of politics, panic, digital media, human behaviour and incompetence. Niall Ferguson's Doom looks at each of these aspects, putting them into historical perspective in a book of dazzling range and rigour. -- Fraser Nelson * The Spectator *Niall Ferguson's Doom is often insightful, productively provocative and downright brilliant. * New York Times *A superb history of the lost art of handling a crisis. * The Telegraph *Stimulating ... Each chapter of this thought-provoking book is worth reading for the ideas, perceptiveness and well-told stories of landmark events ... It's a useful reminder that what may feel like having unprecedented restrictions imposed on our lives today is nothing new... readers will find much to relish. -- Martin Bentham * Evening Standard *Elegant, pacey, gripping ... a wealth of deep research. * The Economist *Doom covers an impressive sweep of history at a lively narrative clip and weaves a lot of disparate strands together into an engaging picture. -- Rafael Behr * The Guardian *Timely and refreshing ... An informative, amusing and thought-provoking read that is full of steadying good sense for these troubled times. -- Peter Neville-Hadley * South China Morning Post *Performs a crucial public service ... Doom is far more than just a page-turner, though that it certainly is: it's that most precious of things in a history book - an account of the past that truly helps us understand where we are today. -- Ryan Bourne * CapX *

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Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERA RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK CHOSEN AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE TELEGRAPH AND THE NEW STATESMAN"A marvellous book" Rev Richard Coles"Gripping... filled with compassion." Sunday Times"Remarkable... hopeful and uplifting." Mail on Sunday"An antidote to despair" Daily Mirror"Enthralling... vivid and humane" Observer"Exemplary" New StatesmanWhen a plane crashes, a bomb explodes, a city floods or a pandemic begins, Lucy Easthope's phone starts to ring.Lucy is a world-leading authority on recovering from disaster. She holds governments to account, supports survivors and helps communities to rebuild. She has been at the centre of the most seismic events of the last few decades, advising on everything from the 2004 tsunami and the 7/7 bombings to the Grenfell fire and the war in Ukraine. Lucy's job is to pick up the pieces and get us ready for what comes next.Lucy takes us behind the police tape to scenes of chaos, and into government briefing rooms where confusion can reign. She also looks back at the many losses and loves of her life and career, and tells us how we can all build back after disaster.When the Dust Settles lifts us up, showing that humanity, hope and humour can - and must - be found on the darkest days.Trade ReviewNever less than reassuringly humane... She shows and tells and, vitally, cares. * Telegraph *An unlikely superhero... this gripping memoir is full of compassion. A remarkable insight into the decisions involved in disaster planning. * Sunday Times *Easthope, whether she knows it or not, is that rare thing, a genuine philosopher thinking through what she is actually doing in the mitigation of human suffering. * New Statesman *The disasters recalled here often read like short stories, each of them filled with high drama, surreal twists and mysteries to be solved. * Guardian *'A remarkable account...This should be a dark and depressing read; that it isn't, that it is ultimately hopeful and uplifting, is down to the utter human decency that the author represents' * Mail on Sunday *An essential, uplifting read, brimming with humanity, humility and humour. * Sue Black *An entirely unique vision of the human experience * Irish Times *Candid, unsettling and darkly funny * Sunday Post *Poignant, funny, analytical and profoundly humane * Perspective Magazine *Dauntless and forthright * TLS *Deeply humane, occasionally unsettling, and strangely uplifting * Irish Business Post *A book of horror and hope, written with rare humanity. * John Sutherland *When the Dust Settles taught me is that all experiences are of value... Easthope shows us how perfection and imperfection are woven together. Everything is flawed. Yet there is also hope despite the flaws. * Rachel Kelly *Her sensitive and profoundly moral book explores how human beings can preserve their resilience and live with loss. * New Statesman *Rewrites your perceptions of the disasters and wars of our lifetime with vivid details and vignettes... laced with humanity and decency. A literary memento which honours the messy truth of life.' * The Critic *An inspiring memoir. Easthope advises, supports and helps to rebuild lives. * Yorkshire Post *A riveting no-nonsense memoir that pulls back the curtains on your worst fears and shows you that someone, somewhere, will always truly care. * Jenny Colgan *Outstanding... a graphic but deeply humane account of what drew her to take on such work, and how she steels herself to tackle the worst of human scenarios. * The Bookseller *Never less than reassuringly humane... She shows and tells and, vitally, cares. * Telegraph *An unlikely superhero... this gripping memoir is full of compassion. A remarkable insight into the decisions involved in disaster planning. * Sunday Times *Easthope, whether she knows it or not, is that rare thing, a genuine philosopher thinking through what she is actually doing in the mitigation of human suffering. * New Statesman *The disasters recalled here often read like short stories, each of them filled with high drama, surreal twists and mysteries to be solved. * Guardian *'A remarkable account...This should be a dark and depressing read; that it isn't, that it is ultimately hopeful and uplifting, is down to the utter human decency that the author represents' * Mail on Sunday *An essential, uplifting read, brimming with humanity, humility and humour. * Sue Black *An entirely unique vision of the human experience * Irish Times *Candid, unsettling and darkly funny * Sunday Post *Poignant, funny, analytical and profoundly humane * Perspective Magazine *Dauntless and forthright * TLS *Deeply humane, occasionally unsettling, and strangely uplifting * Irish Business Post *A book of horror and hope, written with rare humanity. * John Sutherland *When the Dust Settles taught me is that all experiences are of value... Easthope shows us how perfection and imperfection are woven together. Everything is flawed. Yet there is also hope despite the flaws. * Rachel Kelly *Her sensitive and profoundly moral book explores how human beings can preserve their resilience and live with loss. * New Statesman *Rewrites your perceptions of the disasters and wars of our lifetime with vivid details and vignettes... laced with humanity and decency. A literary memento which honours the messy truth of life.' * The Critic *An inspiring memoir. Easthope advises, supports and helps to rebuild lives. * Yorkshire Post *A riveting no-nonsense memoir that pulls back the curtains on your worst fears and shows you that someone, somewhere, will always truly care. * Jenny Colgan *Outstanding... a deeply humane account of what drew her to take on such work, and how she steels herself to tackle the worst of human scenarios. * The Bookseller *

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Book SynopsisFoot by foot Titanic's lifeboat No.11 slowly jerked its way down the sides of the great ocean liner as it slipped beneath the cold, dark waters of the Atlantic. For the fifty or so men, women and children crammed into the lifeboat, survival was all that mattered. Even then, though, the American fashion designer Edith Rosenbaum Russell ferociously clung to her pig-shaped music box until she was rescued, its tunes helping to quell the fears of the frightened children onboard. Unlike so many of those onboard Titanic that fateful night in April 1912, everyone in lifeboat No.11 would be rescued. Bridget McDermott had brought a new hat before she set off for America. Bridget climbed into one of the lifeboats, believed to be No.13, before realising she had left her precious purchase behind. She climbed out of the lifeboat, retrieved her hat from her cabin, ran back to the open deck and jumped fifteen feet from a rope ladder onto the lifeboat. Other garments played an important part in the s

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Book SynopsisA timely, revelatory first look into the impact climate change has on children—the greatest moral crisis humanity faces today—by a pediatrician in the fastest warming city in America.Wildfires, hurricanes, and heat waves make headlines. But what is happening in Debra Hendrickson’s clinic tells another story of this strange and unsettling time. Hendrickson is a pediatrician in Reno, Nevada—the fastest warming city in the United States, where ash falls like snow during summer wildfires. In The Air They Breathe, Dr. Hendrickson recounts patients she’s seen who were harmed by worsening smoke, smog, and pollen; two boys in Arizona, stricken by record-setting heat while hiking; children who fled for their lives from Hurricane Harvey and the Tubbs Fire; and a little girl whose life was forever altered by the Zika virus outbreak in 2016. The climate crisis is a health crisis, and it is a health crisis, first and foremost, for children

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Book SynopsisThis book addresses the policing and social control of eco–justice movements during the COVID–19 pandemic, as well as activist practices of resistance during the same period. It is based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Trento, Italy, focusing on two eco–justice groups opposing a high–speed railway and the containment of wild bears. Rooted in critical, green, cultural and sensory approaches within criminology, the book discusses the intensification of policing strategies against eco–justice protesters during the pandemic and their increased exclusion from urban centres. Highlighting activists’ radical and transformative practices of resistance, the book identifies directions for future critical and green criminological research in the area.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Flexing the Muscles of Power: Policing Urban Eco-Justice Activism During the Pandemic 2. Power, Consumption, Disorder and Protest in Inner-City Centres 3. Atmospheres of Eco-Justice Resistance during the Pandemic Conclusion

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Book SynopsisA catastrophic disaster in China triggers a mother’s heartbreaking choice and a daughter’s reconciliation with the past in a powerful novel by the author of A Single Swallow and Where Waters Meet. In the summer of 1976, an earthquake swallows up the city of Tangshan, China. Among the hundreds of thousands of people scrambling for survival is a mother who makes an agonizing decision that irrevocably changes her life and the lives of her children. In that devastating split second, her seven-year-old daughter, Xiaodeng, is separated from her brother and the mother she loves and trusts. All Xiaodeng remembers of the fateful morning is betrayal. Thirty years later, Xiaodeng is an acclaimed writer living in Canada with a caring husband and daughter. However, her newfound fame and success do little to cover the deep wounds that disrupt her life, time and again, and edge her toward a breaking point. Xiaodeng realizes the only path toward healing is to return to Tangshan, find her mother, and get closure. Spanning three decades of the emotional and cultural aftershocks of disaster, Zhang Ling’s intimate epic explores the damage of guilt, the healing pull of family, and the hope of one woman who, after so many years, still longs to be saved.Trade Review“This beautiful, quietly profound story examines the resilience and fragility of humans in the face of disaster. But at its heart, Aftershock is about family and how we protect the ones we love.” —Booklist

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Book SynopsisA groundbreaking new perspective on catastrophes throughout human history, with vital lessons for our future''This book upended my understanding of the ancient world'' Zoë Schlanger, author of The Light Eaters''Lizzie Wade is an exceptional journalist and a master storyteller'' Ed Yong, author of An Immense WorldThe history of humanity is one of devastating, once-in-a-thousand-year events: rising seas that make land uninhabitable, decades-long droughts, civilisational collapse, epidemics like the Black Death and the Spanish Flu that reduce a city's population by fifty percent. And yet, despite enormous destruction and very real tragedy, these catastrophes all share one common denominator: we survived.In APOCALYPSE, Lizzie Wade reframes the story of human history to show how we can learn from these apocalyptic moments, seeing them not just as violent, world-ending events but as moments of progress and transformation. We travel back in deep time to when homo sapiens replaced other human species including the Neanderthals, witness the fall of the kingdom of Old Egypt, the end of the Mayans and the Black Death, as well as lesser-known catastrophes. To weave this unique narrative, Lizzie introduces us to a new generation of archaeologists using cutting-edge technology to tell new stories about our deep past, including flying planes equipped with lasers over Mayan ruins deep in the jungle, scuba diving to the bottom of the ocean, and sequencing the DNA of ancient people to show how we are far more connected to our ancestors than we think.Written in a gripping style that reads like an Indiana Jones mystery, APOCALYPSE offers a refreshingly optimistic take on the crises our own generation and those after us will face arguing that yes, catastrophes are painful and destructive, but we can and will survive them.

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Book SynopsisIn the century before the great famine of the late 1840s, the Irish people, and the poor especially, became increasingly dependent on the potato for their food. So when potato blight struck, causing the tubers to rot in the ground, they suffered a grievous loss. Thus began a catastrophe in which approximately one million people lost their lives and many more left Ireland for North America, changing the country forever. During and after this terrible human crisis, the British government was bitterly accused of not averting the disaster or offering enough aid. Some even believed that the Whig government''s policies were tantamount to genocide against the Irish population. James Donnelly''s account looks closely at the political and social consequences of the great Irish potato famine and explores the way that natural disasters and government responses to them can alter the destiny of nations.Trade ReviewThis is unquestionably the most comprehensive single account of the Irish catastrophe... -- Professor Peter Gray... many historians have written excellent books about the great Irish famine ... Donnelly's is the best and most comprehensive of them all. -- Kerby Miller, Middlebush Professor of HistoryJames Donnelly's book is likely to become the classic account of the Great Famine, and the first port of call for both students and general readers. -- Professor Peter Gray

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Book SynopsisThe future may still be unpredictable, but nowadays, disasters are not. We live in a time of constant, consistent catastrophe, where things more often go wrong than they go right. So why do we still fumble when disaster hits? Why are we always one step behind?In The Devil Never Sleeps, Juliette Kayyem lays the groundwork for a new approach to dealing with disasters. Presenting the basic themes of crisis management, Kayyem amends the principles we rely on far too easily. Instead, she offers us a new framework to anticipate the "devil's" inevitable return, highlighting the leadership deficiencies we need to overcome and the forward thinking we need to harness. It's no longer about preventing a disaster from occurring, but learning how to use the tools at our disposal to minimize the consequences when it does.Filled with personal anecdotes and real-life examples from natural disasters like the California wildfires to man-made ones like the Boeing 737 MAX crisis, The Devil Never Sleeps is a guide for governments, businesses, and individuals alike on how to alter our thinking so that we can develop effective strategies in the face of perpetual catastrophe.

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Book SynopsisIn 2004, the UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan called Darfur the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. A comprehensive food aid programme soon followed, at the time the largest in the world. Yet by 2014, while the crisis continued, international agencies found they had limited access to much of the population, with the Sudanese regime effectively controlling who received aid. As a result, acute malnutrition remains persistently high. Food Aid in Sudan argues that the situation in Sudan is emblematic of a far wider problem. Analysing the history of food aid in the country over fifty years, Jaspars shows that such aid often serves to enrich local regimes and the private sector while leaving war-torn populations in a state of permanent emergency. Drawing on her decades of experience as an aid worker and researcher in the region, and extensive interviews with workers in the food aid process, Jaspars brings together two key topics of our time: the failure of the humanitarian system to respond to today’s crises, and the crisis in the global food system. Essential reading for students and researchers across the social sciences studying the nature and effectiveness of contemporary humanitarianism, development and international aid.Trade ReviewA superb account of the intertwining of nutritional science, politics and humanitarian crisis in Sudan over fifty years. This is an essential book for all students of humanitarianism. * Alex de Waal, co-author of Darfur: A Short History of a Long War *Brilliantly and disturbingly demonstrates how a range of self-interests and shifting orthodoxies have combined to create the virtual abandonment of a highly distressed population in Darfur. * David Keen, London School of Economics *Jaspers has written a singular, important and challenging book. Indeed, I cannot speak too highly of this major work. This book deserves to become a classic within the humanitarian field and demands to be widely read. * Mark Duffield, author of Global Governance and the New Wars *Provides crucial insights into how food aid has shaped power relations in Sudan. A timely and meticulous contribution towards understanding the politics of food insecurity and the processes of aid provision. * Zoë Marriage, SOAS, University of London *Table of ContentsPreface 1. Introduction: Food Aid and Power The Crisis in Sudan What is Food Aid? Analysing Food Aid, Power and Governance Food Aid in Sudan The Challenges of Fieldwork in Sudan 2. From Managing States and Supporting Livelihoods to Abandoning Populations Managing States: Food Aid to Strengthen States and Benefit Donors Managing Lives: Food Aid to Save Lives and Protect Livelihoods Abandoning Populations: Food Aid, Global Instability and Resilience Conclusions 3. Food Aid in Sudan: Government and Private Sector Response Sudan’s Protracted Crisis: Food, Governance and Inequality The Early Years of Food Aid in Sudan: Urban Food Subsidies, Uneven Development and Refugees Changes in Quantities and Types of International Food Aid in Sudan The Famines of the 1980s and the Manipulation of Food Aid Islamism, Self-sufficiency and War Control over International Agencies and the Sudanisation of Food Aid Conclusions 4. The Effects of Food Aid Practices in North Darfur An Overview of Drought, Famine and Conflict in North Darfur Food Aid in Response to Drought and Famine (the 1980s and 1990s) The Darfur Crisis: Food Aid in the Early Years (2003–07) The Later Years (2008–14): Reduced Food Aid and Access Restrictions Indirect Effects of Reduced Food Aid Are People Still Coping? Conclusions 5. Perceptions of Food Aid: Politics, Dependency and Denial of Permanent Emergency A Country of Food Aid Experts The Government View of Food Aid International Agencies: De-politicisation and Abandonment International Agencies: The Denial of Permanent Emergency Alternative Perceptions of Food Aid: Politics, War and Economic Benefits Conclusions 6. Conclusions What Brought about Change? Continuities? Impact of Food Aid Practices in Sudan’s Protracted Emergency Implications for Humanitarian and Food Aid Operations Appendix 1: Chronology of Key Political Events in Sudan

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Book Synopsis''One of the most perceptive and thought-provoking books Essential reading for these turbulent times.''Amitav Ghosh, author ofThe Great Derangement''Dougald Hine's brilliant book demands we stare into that abyss and rethink our securest certainties about what is actually going on in the climate crisis. It's lucidly unsettling and yet in the end empowering. Thereissomething we can do, and it starts with where we look, how we see and what we choose to change.'Brian Eno, Musician[A] rich book, which like a poetic or religious text deserves multiple readings'Richard Smith,British Medical JournalI consider this book a must-read for all those activists feeling lost, desperate and perh

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Book SynopsisThe Great Famine is possibly the most pivotal event/experience in modern Irish history. Its global reach and implications cannot be underestimated. In terms of mortality, it is now widely accepted that over a million people perished between the years 1845-1852 and at least one million and a quarter fled the country, the great majority to North America, some to Australia and a significant minority ((0.3 million) to British cities. Ireland had been afflicted by famine before the events of the 1840s; however the Great Famine is marked by both its absolute scale and its longevity. It is also better remembered because it was the most recent and best documented famine. This atlas comprising over fifty individual chapters and case studies will provide readers with a broad range of perspectives and relevant insights into this tragic event. The atlas begins by acknowledging the impossibility of adequately representing the Great Famine or any major world famine. Yet by exploring a number of themes from a reconstruction of pre-Famine Ireland onwards to an exploration of present-day modes of remembering; by the use of over 150 highly original computer generated parish maps of population decline, social transformation and other key themes between the census years 1841 and 1851: and through the use of poetry, contemporary paintings and accounts, illustrations and modern photography, what this atlas seeks to a achieve is a greater understanding of the event and its impact and legacy. This atlas seeks to try and bear witness to the thousands and thousands of people who died and are buried in mass Famine pits or in fields and ditches, with little or nothing to remind us of their going. The centrality of the Famine workhouse as a place of destitution is also examined in depth. Likewise the atlas seeks to represent and understand the conditions and experiences of the many thousands who emigrated from Ireland in those desperate years. Included are case studies of famine emigrants in cities such as Liverpool, Glasgow, New York and Toronto. A central concern of the atlas is to seek to understand why a famine of this scale should occur in a nineteenth-century European country, albeit a country which was subject to imperial rule. In addition, it seeks to reveal in detail the working-out and varying consequences of the Famine across the island. To this end, apart from presenting an overall island-wide picture, Famine experiences and patterns will be presented separately for the four provinces. These provincial explorations will be accompanied by intimate case studies of conditions in particular localities across the provinces. The atlas also seeks to situate the Great Irish Famine in the context of a number of world famines. To achieve these goals and understandings, the atlas includes contributions from a wide range of scholars who are experts in their fields - from the arts, folklore, geography, history, archaeology, Irish and English languages and literatures.Trade ReviewCork University Press has established an enviably high reputation in producing atlases. The latest - of the Great Irish Famine - maintains and enhances this record. Not only are the maps themselves innovative and attractive to look at, but they communicate clearly an abundance of information, often unfamiliar. The cartography is accompanied by a wealth of other images, sometimes strikingly beautiful, and also hauntingly distressful. In addition, a starry cast of experts provides incisive and illuminating commentary on all aspects of the disaster. All in all, this is likely to prove one of the most original and enduring studies of the grievous famine. Toby Barnard, History, Oxford University This monumental work is far more than an Atlas, it is the definitive summary of all aspects of the Great Irish Famine. The many maps are accompanied by accessible yet scientifically sound texts. The demographics and geography are surveyed with unequaled detail and care, yet the historical background, the politics, and the economics of the Famine are discussed at an equally high scholarly level. Lavishly illustrated and scholarly immaculate, written by the best scholars in the field, this volume belongs in the library of everyone interested in the greatest natural disaster of the modern age - Joel Mokyr, Robert H. Strotz Professor of Arts and Sciences, Department of Economics, Northwestern University, USA This Atlas offers a powerful, unflinching and coherent understanding of the Irish Famine as the defining event in Irish history. It balances sweeping survey with minute details, while always attending to the surprising diversity of this small island in the mid nineteenth century. Its unparalleled assemblage of new maps, old images and extensive documentation offers a brilliant teaching aid for the history of Ireland and of the Irish diaspora. Firmly rooted in recent research, saturated in meticulous scholarship, and interdisciplinary in the best sense, it is unafraid to draw the necessary trenchant conclusions. Its broad synthesis offers the best overview we have ever had of this traumatic and defining episode-Professor Kevin Whelan, Keough Naughton Notre Dame Centre, Dublin.Table of ContentsAtlas of the Great Irish Famine 1845-52 Editors: John Crowley, William J. Smyth, Mike Murphy Preface President Mary McAleese* Poem by Eavan Boland Introduction: John Crowley ,William J. Smyth, Mike Murphy Section 1 Ireland before and after the Great Famine (Double page spread) Chapter 1The tragedy of the Great Famine (W. J. Smyth) * Chapter 2 Mapping the people: the growth and distribution of the population (W. J. Smyth)* Case study: 1741 Famine (David Dickson)* Chapter 3 The failure of the potato and the Famine (John Feehan)* Case study: The Failure of the potato: Baunreagh, Co. Laois (John Feehan)* Case study - Pre-Famine diet (Regina Sexton)* Section II The Great Hunger Chapter 4 The longue duree - imperial Britain and colonial Ireland (W. J. Smyth)* Chapter 5 The colonial dimensions of the Great Irish Famine (David Nally)* Chapter 6 British relief measures (Peter Gray)* Box: Sir Charles Trevelyan (Peter Gray)* Chapter 7 The Operation of the Poor Law during the Famine (Christine Kinealy)* Case study: Queen Victoria and the Famine (Christine Kinealy)* Box: Burying and resurrecting the Past (John Crowley)* Chapter 8: 'The largest amount of good': Quaker relief efforts (Helen Hatton)* Chapter 9 'Born astride a grave': the geography of the dead (W. J. Smyth)* Section III The Workhouse Chapter 10 The creation of the workhouse system (W. J. Smyth) Chapter 11 Classify, Confine, Discipline and Punish - the Roscrea Union: A Microgeography of the Workhouse System during the Famine (W. J. Smyth)* Case Study: Famine and workhouse clothing (Hilary O'Kelly)* Case study: The Cork workhouse (Michelle O'Mahony)* Chapter : 12 Ulster workhouses-ideological geometry and conflict (Liz Thomas)* Case study: Lurgan/Portadown workhouse during the Famine (Gerard Mac Atasney)* Section IV Population Decline and Social Transformation Chapter 13 Mortality (Cormac O Grada)* Chapter 14 'Variations in vulnerability': understanding where and why people died (W. J. Smyth)* Chapter 15 Medical relief and the Great Famine (Laurence Geary)* Case study: Report upon the recent epidemic fever in Ireland': the evidence from Co. Cork (Laurence Geary)* Chapter 16 Emigration in the Era of the Great Famine, 1845-1855(Kerby Miller)* Chapter 17 The cities and towns of Ireland 1841-1851 (Kevin Hourihan)* Chapter 18 The roles of cities and towns before and during the Great Famine (William J. Smyth) Chapter 19 Women and the Great Irish Famine (Dympna McLoughlin)* Chapter 20 Their 'Undoubted and Most Sacred Right': The behaviour of the landed classes during the Great Irish Famine (David Butler)* Box: 'Turned out...thrown down': Evictions in the townlands of Bunkilla and Monavanshare, Donoughmore, Co. Cork (John O'Connell)* Connacht Introduction Case study: Clifden Union, Connemara, Co. Galway (Kathleen Villiers-Tuthill)* Case study: In the shadow of Sliabh an Iarann, Co. Leitrim (Gerard Mac Atasney)* Case study: The Famine in Co. Roscommon (Mary Kelly)* Case study: Ballykilcline, Co. Roscommon (Charles Orser)* Leinster Introduction Case study: Co. Meath during the Famine (Peter Connell)* Case study: Burying the Famine dead: Kilkenny Workhouse (Jonny Geber)* Case study: Co. Offaly during the Famine (Ciaran Reilly) Munster Introduction Case study: The Mizen Peninsula (Patrick Hickey)* Case study: The Famine in the County Tipperary parish of Shanrahan (William J. Smyth)* Case study: The Dingle Peninsula (Kieran Foley)* Case study: Cobh/Queenstown (Marita Foster)* Box: Visit of Queen Victoria to Cove, August 1849 (Marita Foster)* Ulster Introduction Case study The Great Famine and Religious Demography in mid-nineteenth century Ulster (Kerby A. Miller, Brian Gurrin and Liam Kennedy)* Case study: Belfast's hidden famine (Christine Kinealy* and Gerard Mac Tasney*) Case study: Mapping the Famine in Monaghan (Paddy Duffy)* Case study: The management of Famine in Donegal in the hungry forties (Jim MacLaughlin)* Section V Witnessing the Famine Chapter 21 The Famine in Gaelic manuscripts (Neil Buttimer)* Case study: James Mahony (c.1816-c.1859) (Julian Campbell)* Chapter 22 Asenath Nicholson's Famine narrative (Lorraine Chadwick)* Chapter 23 Carlyle's journey through Famine Ireland (John Crowley)* Case study: French response to the Great Famine (Grace Neville)* Section VI The Scattering Chapter 24 Exodus from Ireland - patterns of emigration (William J. Smyth) Chapter 25 Black 47' in Liverpool (Patrick Nugent and Carmen Tunney)* Box: The Fidelia (Patrick Nugent and Carmen Tunney)* Chapter 26: Glasgow, the Famine and the emergence of Glasgow Celtic (John Reid)* Case study: London's Famine burial site (Natasha Powers)* Chapter 27 Toronto and the Irish Famine Migration (Mark McGowan)* Box: Gross Ile (Mark McGowan)* Chapter 28 The Famine and New York (Anelise H. Shrout)* Box: New York's Famine memorial (Joe Lee)* Chapter 29 The Famine and Australia (Thomas Keneally)* Chapter 30 'Week after week, the eviction and the Exodus: Ireland and Moreton Bay, 1848-51 (Jennifer Harrison)* Section VII Legacy Chapter 31 The Irish Diaspora (Piaras MacEinri)* Chapter 32 Post-Famine Ireland (Willie Nolan)* Chapter 33 The Irish language (Mairead Nic Craith) Section VIII Remembering the Famine Chapter: 34 Folklore and memory (Cathal Poirteir)* Box: Na Pratai Dubha Case study: Tadhg O Murchu (1842-1928) (Cathal Poirteir)* Chapter: 35 New Sites of memory (J Crowley)* Box: Memory and Music (M. Ingoldsby)* Chapter 36 'Strokestown Park House and the National Famine Museum as a site of memory'(Terence Dooley)* Box: A Great Famine Discovery of Viking Gold: Vesnoy, Strokestown, Co. Roscommon (John Sheehan)* Chapter 37 Art and the Famine (Catherine Marshall)* Box: Remembering (Anet Hennessey)* Chapter 38 Literature and the Famine (Chris Morash)* Section IX Hunger and Famine Today Chapter 39 The Great Famine and today's Famines (Cormac O Grada)* Chapter 40 Famine, food security or food sovereignty? (Colin Sage)* Case study: Imaging Famine: Whose Hunger? (Luke Dodd)* Chapter 41 Fighting Hunger: Ireland's role (Connell Foley, Policy Director, Concern)* ENDNOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Book Synopsis''Remarkable . . . grips with the force of a thriller'' Robert Macfarlane''The most brilliant and essential book on Chernobyl since that of Nobel Prize-winner Svetlana Alexievich'' Irish Times** National Book Critics Circle Finalist 2019 **The official death toll of the 1986 Chernobyl accident, ''the worst nuclear disaster in history'', is only 54, and stories today commonly suggest that nature is thriving there. Yet award-winning historian Kate Brown uncovers a much more disturbing story, one in which radioactive isotopes caused hundreds of thousands of casualties, and the magnitude of the disaster has been actively suppressed.For years after, Soviet scientists, bureaucrats and civilians were documenting staggering increases in birth defects, child mortality, cancers and other life-altering diseases. Worried that this evidence would blow the lid on the effects of radiation release from Cold War weapons-testing, scientTrade ReviewA magisterial blend of historical research, investigative journalism and poetic reportage, Kate Brown sets out to uncover Chernobyl's true medical and environmental effects . . . an awe-inspiring journey. * The Economist *This thrilling, frightening book tells the truth about the Chernobyl disaster . . . the most brilliant and essential book on Chernobyl since that of Nobel Prize winner Svetlana Alexievich. * The Irish Times *An astonishing unconventional history. * The Times *Brown's page-turner skilfully weaves an original narrative on the long-term medical effects of the Chernobyl disaster... Her capacity to immerse herself and pick up on nuances brings these stories from factory workers, technicians, doctors and villagers alive. * Nature *Exemplary ... Brown is an indomitable researcher -- Luke Harding * Observer *Full of passion . . . [an] admirable uncovering of the hidden story behind Chernobyl. * The Guardian *Vital work, making a convincing case for the catastrophic long-term medical and ecological effects of the disaster -- Tobie Mathew * Literary Review *A troubling book, passionately written and deeply researched ... the book moves from science to thriller and realm of conspiracy... there is no doubt about Brown's gift for vivid narrative. Her conclusion is chilling. * The Sunday Times *A humane book about the irreversible things a technological disaster does to people and landscapes. * Owen Hatherley, New Statesman, 'Best Books of 2019' *A magnificent monograph that stands out among the multiple books on Chernobyl simply because it tells us the truth - the whole unadulterated truth - about one of the worst disasters in history. As such, it may itself be regarded as a survival manual of sorts. And a guide to the future, too. * Engineering and Technology *Help[s] us comprehend, both emotionally and rationally, a disaster so great that future scholars will detect it thousands years from now, whether they have written accounts of it or not. * The Evening Standard *Kate Brown [...] shows that there are still many ways to tell this story, and that the lessons of Chernobyl remain unresolved ... Brown argues persuasively that [researchers] are grossly underestimating the scale of the damage. * The New York Review *Manual For Survival is a remarkable book, distinguished by Kate Brown's rare combination of skills: formidable archival history, investigative research, and vivid storytelling. There are parts of this book that grip with the force of a thriller - but again and again, the plot is proved true. A decade's work has gone into uncovering the real human cost of Chernobyl. This is a book about even bigger subjects than the disaster at its core, however: about how politics processes disaster, about the unseen legacies of the 'friendly atom', and about the Anthropocene futures faced by the human species, surviving in an epoch of ruin.This deftly written, impassioned, courageous book should make the world think twice about what's at stake when we unleash nuclear reactions.Kate Brown presents a convincing challenge to the official narrative of the Chernobyl disaster. Deeply reported and elegantly written, "Manual for Survival" is chilling.Combining the skills of a historian, investigative reporter, and detective Kate Brown has blown the lid off the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster and decades of official efforts to suppress its grim truths. Disturbing in its conclusions, destined to incite controversy, Manual for Survival is first-rate historical sleuthing.Gripping . . . Kate Brown's relentless, tenacious reporting shows that Chernobyl isn't the past at all. Nothing, she makes clear, can stop its radiation from seeping through all attempts to bury the truth, for a long time to come. This deftly written, impassioned, courageous book should make the world think twice about what's at stake when we unleash nuclear reactions.This engagingly written book reads like a cold war thriller and uncovers the devastating effects of one of the world's worst nuclear disasters.

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Book SynopsisBy February 2020, the U.S. economic expansion had become the longest on record. Unemployment was plumbing half-century lows. Stock markets soared to new highs. One month later, the public health battle against a deadly virus had pushed the economy into the equivalent of a medically induced coma. America''s workplaces-offices, shops, malls, and factories-shuttered. Many of the nation''s largest employers and tens of thousands of small businesses faced ruin. Over 22 million American jobs were lost. The extreme uncertainty led to some of the largest daily drops ever in the stock market.Nick Timiraos, the Wall Street Journal''s chief economics correspondent, draws on extensive interviews to detail the tense meetings, late night phone calls, and crucial video conferences behind the largest, swiftest U.S. economic policy response since World War II. Trillion Dollar Triage goes inside the Federal Reserve, one of the country''s most important and least understood institutions, to chronicle how its plainspoken chairman, Jay Powell, unleashed an unprecedented monetary barrage to keep the economy on life support. With the bleeding stemmed, the Fed faced a new challenge: How to nurture a recovery without unleashing an inflation-fueling, bubble-blowing money bomb?Trillion Dollar Triage is the definitive, gripping history of a creative and unprecedented battle to shield the American economy from the twin threats of a public health disaster and economic crisis. Economic theory and policy will never be the same.

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Book SynopsisA common sense field guide to understanding, surviving, and thriving in our time of complex chaos and crises.From Covid-19 to runaway technology to climate change, we are currently living in an apocalyptic state. And it''s nothing new: As a species we''ve been surviving-and evolving from-apocalypses for as long as we''ve walked the Earth. So, we''re capable of dealing with them, surviving them, and yes, thriving through them. In How to Make Friends and Win the Apocalypse, evolutionary psychologist and zombie enthusiast Athena Aktipis has assembled a lively, unexpected field guide to help readers mentally and practically prepare for current and future apocalyptic events. She begins by teaching readers to overcome the main obstacle in surviving an apocalypse: fear. And then trains them on how to make smart decisions based on historic precedent, human psychology, and brain science. Illustrated with 2-color illustrations throughout that both teach and entertain, th

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Book SynopsisThis book provides a historical account of the NGO CARE as one of the largest humanitarian NGOs worldwide from 1945 to 1980. Readers interested in international relations and humanitarian hunger prevention are provided with fascinating insights into the economic and business related aspects of Western non-governmental politics, fundraising and philanthropic giving in this field. Not only does the book contributes to ongoing research about the rise of NGOs in the international realm, it also offers very rich empirical material on the political implications of private and governmental international aid in a world marked by the order of the Cold War, decolonialization processes and the struggle of so called “Third World Countries” to catch up with modern Western consumer societies. This book is relevant to both United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 1, No poverty and 2, Zero hungerTable of ContentsIntroduction1 Setting up a non-profit enterprise (1945–7) 2 From Europe to Asia and beyond (1948–55) 3 In search of a new mission in Korea 4 New cooperative horizons (1955–61) 5 Food aid and private-public cooperation in Egypt 6 From American relief to international development cooperation (1961–8)7 CARE and the Peace Corps 8 Towards multinational enterprise (1969–80) ConclusionIndex

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Book SynopsisFrom Icelandic author Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir comes a heart-wrenching thriller about a woman’s desperate quest to save the people she loves from a natural disaster. After an eight-hundred-year slumber, the volcanoes in Iceland’s most populated region are showing signs of life. Earthquakes dominate the headlines. Echoes of the devastating eruptions in the past stir unease in the people. Volcanologist Anna Arnardóttir has spent her entire life studying the volcanic powers under the earth’s crust, but even she cannot fathom the catastrophe at hand. As a series of eruptions threaten most of Iceland’s population, she’s caught off her rational guard by the most terrible natural disaster of all—love. The world as she knows it is about to fall apart, and so is her heart. Caught between the safety of a nation and her feelings for her children, her lover, and her past, Anna embarks on a dangerous journey to save the lives of the people she loves—and her soul.Trade Review“This fiercely wrought thriller from Björnsdóttir perfectly balances science and psychology…Björnsdóttir smoothly integrates geological and historical information about Iceland’s volcanos into the action. This explosive tale of adulterous passion is not just for Scandi noir fans.” —Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) “[Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir] weaves together the hearts of men and the hearts of the earth and the magma of the earth and does it so wonderfully. The Fires is a huge success. Such a profound, well-thought-out, romantic thriller.” —Kiljan, Iceland’s foremost literary TV program “A shocking love story as well as an existential speculation about the role of the mother, but first and foremost it is an extremely accomplished thriller.” —Víðsjá “The Fires is a thriller, a love story, and a tragedy. It is absolutely fantastic, though one cannot help but hope that Reykjanes will not start to shake and tremble with as much force as in the book…The Fires is a must read. Except maybe for those who are very terrified of earthquakes.” —Morgunblaðið (5 stars)

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Book SynopsisSubverting eco-anxiety and establishing ways we can empower children around the globe, this book takes a holistic approach to bring together the relevancy and impact of forced migration and climate resilience, underpinned by a social emotional approach to overall wellbeing, adjustment, and adaptability.

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Book SynopsisReactor 4 at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station, three kilometres from Pripyat in the then Soviet Republic of Ukraine, was beset by a series of explosions. This book explores the disaster's continued impact from local struggles to global implications through word and image.

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Book SynopsisThe story opens when a comet named Gallia collects a few tiny bits of Earth while passing by it in midair. The disaster occurred close to Gibraltar on January 1st, 1885. There are still 36 people in the territory the comet has occupied who are of French, English, Spanish, and Russian nationalities. At first, they don't know what's happened and think there's been an earthquake instead of a collision. Adjutant Ben Zoof for Captain Servadac surprises himself by jumping 12 meters (39 feet) in the air as the first indication of weight loss. Soon after, Zoof and Servadac also observe that there are only six hours between day and night, that east and west have switched places, and that water begins to boil at 66 C (151 F), from which they correctly deduce that the atmosphere has thinned and the pressure has reduced. They observe the Earth and the Moon when they first arrive at Gallia, but they incorrectly think it is a newly discovered planet. Their research expedition, which included a ship that the comet also captured, produced additional important data.

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Book SynopsisTwo boys venture from their village to hunt in a nearby forest, where they shoot down bats with glee, and cook their prey over an open fire. Within a month, they are dead, bodies ravaged by an insidious disease that neither the local healer's potions nor the medical team's treatments could cure. Compounding the family's grief, experts warn against touching the sick. But this caution comes too late: the virus spreads rapidly, and the boys' father is barely able to send his eldest daughter away for a chance at survival.Trade ReviewA powerful poetic ode to life in a country of ancient customs, ravaged by death..A magnificent and essential text' Le Figaro;'A powerful poetic ode to life in a country of ancient customs, ravaged by death. A magnificent and essential text' Le Figaro; '[Tadjo] intertwines facts, well-known songs, legends, poems, fictionalized testimonials, and documentary prose in the stirring orality of this novel to give voice to the humanitarian disaster.Realistic, painterly and poetic, the impeccably structured polyvocal novel registers the urgency, despair, commitment, dedication and solidarity that Ebola provokes and leaves one shivering' World Literature Today

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Book Synopsis'One of the most perceptive and thought-provoking books …Essential reading for these turbulent times.' Amitav Ghosh, author of The Great Derangement 'Dougald Hine’s brilliant book demands we stare into that abyss and rethink our securest certainties about what is actually going on in the climate crisis. It’s lucidly unsettling and yet in the end empowering. There is something we can do, and it starts with where we look, how we see and what we choose to change.’ Brian Eno, Musician ‘[A] rich book, which like a poetic or religious text deserves multiple readings’ Richard Smith, British Medical Journal ‘I consider this book a must-read for all those activists feeling lost, desperate and perhaps subject to ‘press-on-itis'.’ Gail Bradbrook, cofounder, Extinction Rebellion Dougald Hine, world-renowned environmental thinker, has spent most of his life talking to people about climate change. And then one afternoon in the second year of the pandemic, he found he had nothing left to say. Why would someone who cares so deeply about ecological destruction want to stop talking about climate change now? At Work in the Ruins explores that question. ‘Climate change asks us questions that climate science cannot answer,’ Dougald says. Questions like, how did we end up in this mess? Is it just a piece of bad luck with atmospheric chemistry – or is it the result of a way of approaching the world that would always have brought us to such a pass? How we answer such questions also has consequences. Through our over-reliance on the single lens of science, Dougald writes that we are blinded to the nature of the crises around and ahead of us, leading to ‘solutions’ that can only make things worse. At Work in the Ruins is his reckoning with the strange years we have been living through and our long history of asking too much of science. He offers guidance by standing firmly forward and facing the depth of the trouble we are in, to ultimately, helps us find the work that is worth doing, even in the ruins.Trade Review'Drawing on decades of experience in climate journalism and activism, Dougald Hine’s At Work in the Ruins is one of the most perceptive and thought-provoking books yet written about the multiple intersecting crises that are now upending our once-familiar world. Of particular importance is Hine’s deeply respectful yet unsparing analysis of the strengths and limitations of science in reckoning with these crises. At Work in the Ruins is essential reading for these turbulent times.' Amitav Ghosh, author of The Great Derangement‘As it begins to dawn on us all that we won’t “stop” climate change or “solve” the climate crisis, we are left looking into something of an abyss. Dougald Hine’s brilliant book demands we stare into that abyss and rethink our securest certainties about what is actually going on in the climate crisis. It’s lucidly unsettling and yet in the end empowering. There is something we can do, and it starts with where we look, how we see and what we choose to change.’ Brian Eno, Musician'In this age of confusion and corruption, Dougald Hine has always had a great gift for asking the right questions. Here he makes a stab at some answers, too – and, more bravely, identifies the places where ‘answers’ are not available and that the real work is rebooting our entire way of seeing. There are far too many books about climate change around, but this book is about something more unsettling: what our response to climate change reveals about us – and what we can’t do about it, as well as what we can. You are certain to come away rethinking some of your own assumptions.' Paul Kingsnorth, author of Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist'Dougald Hine’s book At Work in the Ruins is a deep reflection on the foundations of the destructive path humanity has been pushed on, driven by colonialism, modernity and fossil fuel addiction, by its love for centralization, control, consumerism, certainty. By stopping to talk about climate change and the other problems we face, Dougald invites us to make deeper shifts by making a turn in our hearts and minds, seeking smaller paths, paths to be discovered and walked along by individuals and communities, paths of diversity and decentralization. And trust uncertainty.' Vandana Shiva, author of Terra Viva'I’ll get right to it: every time the world ends, it leaves a mark. Yes. Implicitly, the apocalypse is not new. There have been many before. But this mark I speak of...it is like a signature. A prophetic molecule of sorts. A sense of discomfort with the rush of the familiar. A taste for questions too slippery for the public imagination. A slant of the eye. An initiation that queers the flesh. Like fungal spores inseminating a zombie ant in the forest. A virus. Not to worry: Not everyone is so marked. But Dougald Hine clearly is. Dougald Hine is mad. And he has my full attention and trust. In this sonorous swoosh of earnest prose composed with the cadence of a fugitive journalist who has a news story that should end all other stories – as well as the unmistakable lilt of an elder who would have sat at the edge of my Nigerian village – Dougald ushers us into the Gordian knots of our strange times where ‘following the science’, ‘solving the climate challenge’ and ‘saving the world’ no longer hold much cartographical promise. Ironically, talking this way about a phenomenon that calls into question humanity’s claims to sovereignty is how the modern machine keeps reproducing the fires we want to extinguish. Pushing past popular tropes, Dougald helps us see that how we talk about and address this end-of-world crisis is the crisis. Something else is needed. Mutiny of some kind. An apostasy. Definitely more than a manifesto, a new solution or a new campaign. Let Dougald Hine’s masterful storytelling mark you; let his song of loss and longing, his call to fugitivity, dispossess you of your steady gait and poise. Perhaps then we, collectively infected, might together witness the incomprehensible.' Bayo Akomolafe, author of These Wilds Beyond our Fences'I’ve long felt Dougald Hine an elder to our environmental movements. In this timely book, he is asking us to pause and consider where we are now and how we got here – to think about the deeper causes of the polycrisis. I consider this book a must-read for all those activists feeling lost, desperate and perhaps subject to "press-on-itis". Let’s find our curiosity together, hold each other as we navigate the turbulence and face our lack of roadmap. For me, reading this book was like having a long and honest supper with an old friend around a warming fire. I finished it with a relieving sigh, feeling nourished, heart opened, humanity seen. Let our longings guide our actions. Thank you, Dougald.' Gail Bradbrook, cofounder Extinction Rebellion'I love reading Hine’s writing. Here is a work that began with a feeling that was sensed before it was thought. The result is a book of rare originality and depth – profound, far-reaching, mind-altering stuff.' Helen Jukes, author of A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings'There is great storytelling woven within Dougald’s timely and sometimes-disturbing book. Hine addresses the blessings and chaos of this moment without ever moving into relentless naysaying or vapid optimism, which makes it hugely refreshing. He seeks a third, truer position. A bigger one. At Work in the Ruins carries the weight of many years at the front line of thinking around climate emergency. This isn’t a weary, trotted-out mandate; it wonderingly tugs at what we think we know and points towards what we may not.' Martin Shaw, author of Courting the Wild Twin'Dougald Hine’s very personable book makes a persuasive and welcome case for a new view of science. He shows clearly how movements that live by science – in its current, institutionalized meaning – will also die by science. At Work in the Ruins speaks up for practical judgment, common sense and the wisdom of heart as guides on the ‘small and branching path’ that Hine contrasts with the big highway of surveillance and regulation by which scientized technocracy proposes to address climate change. The Covid years have revealed a stark choice, long foreseen by the prophetic thinkers, such as Ivan Illich, by whom Hine is inspired. I hope many will heed Hine’s invitation to friendship and intellectual modesty, and join him on the adventure of the small path.' David Cayley, author of Ivan Illich: An Intellectual Journey'If the hourglass has come to stand for the time of endings in which we find ourselves, Dougald Hine looks beyond it to recall the myriad encounters with thinkers and knowledges which have shaped his sense-making over the past two decades, and which shed light on our predicament. When our gaze returns to the hourglass, the reader might question its shape, the width of the opening, where the sand was taken from and who gets to turn it. What actually happens once the sand has drained? Or what happens if it doesn’t? What would happen if the glass cracked and the sand was allowed to spill out onto the table? Hine makes tentative maps with that spilt sand, tracing lines with his finger that are clear, compelling and cathartic; reverent to the unknown and unknowable.' Sarah Thomas, author of The Raven’s Nest'Here is a book that explores the public understanding of science around climate change, Covid and social movements. Asking if we demand too much of science, Hine points beyond the "dark hubris" of despair. With eloquence and honesty, he invites us to the hope of deeper mystery that life on Earth might yet unfold.' Alastair McIntosh, author of Soil and Soul and Riders on the Storm'We’ve tried browbeating people into saving the planet. It doesn’t work, both because most people don’t like to be told what to do and because it is pure folly to imagine that individual microchoices are sufficient to lift us out of this crisis. Why not try, instead, to invite people to think together with us in a spirit of honesty, not only about the crisis and possible ways out of it, but also about the deeper reasons why we cherish the world we have been told we must save? This is Dougald Hine’s approach, and it is timely indeed – a desperately needed change of register in contemporary environmental thinking.' Justin E.H. Smith, author of The Internet Is Not What You Think It Is'In this book, Dougald Hine invites us to repurpose the ruins of the modern structures of organisation and existence (within and around us) that have led us on the path of premature extinction. The end of the world as we know it is the end of a world that needs hospicing, and perhaps, through this hospicing, humanity can learn to be taught by the violence it has inflicted on itself and the rest of nature. It is pretentious to think we (humans) can ‘birth’ a new world; but since we are part of nature and not the centre of it, we can learn to trust the healing capacity of its metabolism to work through us, if we can decentre ourselves to allow it to happen.' Vanessa Machado de Oliveira, author of Hospicing Modernity'It’s hard to exaggerate the importance and sheer nerve of Hine’s prophetic call to face the facts. This is an elegant and acute examination of our personal and societal pathology, and a stirring but never polemical insistence that we must start the treatment. What’s wrong with us? Our storylessness, our pathetic clutching at polarities, and our ludicrous faith in progress rather than process. And the therapy? Stories that are worthy of us, because we’re huge and enduring – unlike politics or institutions or ideas. These are apocalyptic times. Hine reminds us that apocalypse means "unveiling" and prepares us for what we might see if we’ve still got eyes.' Charles Foster, author of Being a Human and Being a Beast"Without dismissing the importance of governments or science, Hine writes that an important first step is acknowledging that governments and science don't have ready solutions for all the problems people face. . . Looking ahead, he seeks options, not optimism, and works to advance the conversation around climate change and other global crises from a Western perspective, with the aim of encouraging dialogue beyond binary ideologies. VERDICT A thought-provoking suggestion for readers well versed in climate discourse." Library Journal‘[A] rich book, which like a poetic or religious text deserves multiple readings’ Richard Smith, British Medical Journal'(Hine's) powerful performance of this important message will make listeners question their unexamined assumptions about the planet's future and what they can do about it.' AudioFile Magazine

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Book SynopsisThe world almost conquered famine. Until the 1980s, this scourge killed ten million people every decade, but by early 2000s mass starvation had all but disappeared. Today, famines are resurgent, driven by war, blockade, hostility to humanitarian principles and a volatile global economy. In Mass Starvation, world-renowned expert on humanitarian crisis and response Alex de Waal provides an authoritative history of modern famines: their causes, dimensions and why they ended. He analyses starvation as a crime, and breaks new ground in examining forced starvation as an instrument of genocide and war. Refuting the enduring but erroneous view that attributes famine to overpopulation and natural disaster, he shows how political decision or political failing is an essential element in every famine, while the spread of democracy and human rights, and the ending of wars, were major factors in the near-ending of this devastating phenomenon. Hard-hitting and deeply informed, Mass Starvation explains why man-made famine and the political decisions that could end it for good must once again become a top priority for the international community.Trade Review"A scholarly and passionate book. De Waal is impressive in his ability to conceptualize such a broad topic."Geographical"This is the most important book on famine to appear for some time. Alex de Waal's ideas on famine crimes and atrocities are particularly relevant and we must take heed of his warnings that the decline in famine deaths in the last few decades could be reversed."Peter Atkins, Durham University "Alex de Waal's new book makes a persuasive case that the large decline in famine death over the past three decades is in part attributable to the success of the international humanitarian aid system, even with its kinks and weaknesses. This book should be required reading for donor government policymakers, particularly those who propose slashing aid budgets." Andrew S. Natsios, Executive Professor, George H.W. Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University"For the first time in decades, mass starvation threatens multiple countries. Alex de Waal has written an important and timely book explaining how famine has made a comeback. Each famine is unique, but de Waal guides us through the complexities to highlight the element common to all today’s famines: the weaponization of starvation and the roll-back of humanitarian norms. Mass Starvation is a both a fine work of scholarship and an urgent call to action."Jean-Marie Guéhenno, President & CEO, International Crisis Group and Former UN Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations"Drawing on Alex de Waal's unrivalled understanding and experience of famines and written with his usual flair, this book presents some good news (that human-made famines have been on the decline) along with a stark warning that they may now be on the rise again, especially in the Middle East."David Keen, LSE​ "An authoritative history of modern famines."Green Left “An ambitious, intelligent, and original book”Canadian Journal of HistoryTable of Contents Contents Preface and Acknowledgements Part I: Perspectives on Famine and Starvation Chapter 1: An Unacknowledged Achievement Chapter 2: Famines as Atrocities Chapter 3: Malthus’s Zombie Chapter 4: A Short History of Modern Famines Part II: How Famines Were Almost Eliminated Chapter 5: Demography, Economics, Public Health Chapter 6: Politics, War, Genocide Chapter 7: The Humanitarian International Chapter 8: Ethiopia: No Longer the Land of Famine Part III: The Persistence and Return of Famines Chapter 9: The Famine that isn’t Coming Chapter 10: The New Atrocity Famines Chapter 11: Mass Starvation in the Future Notes References Index

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Book Synopsis"The Ostrich Paradox boldly addresses a key question of our time: Why are we humans so poor at dealing with disastrous risks, and what can we humans do about it? It is a must-read for everyone who cares about risk." —Daniel Kahneman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics and author of Thinking, Fast and Slow We fail to evacuate when advised. We rebuild in flood zones. We don't wear helmets. We fail to purchase insurance. We would rather avoid the risk of "crying wolf" than sound an alarm. Our ability to foresee and protect against natural catastrophes has never been greater; yet, we consistently fail to heed the warnings and protect ourselves and our communities, with devastating consequences. What explains this contradiction? In The Ostrich Paradox, Wharton professors Robert Meyer and Howard Kunreuther draw on years of teaching and research to explain why disaster preparedness efforts consistently fall short. Filled with heartbreaking stories of loss and resilience, the book addresses: •How people make decisions when confronted with high-consequence, low-probability events—and how these decisions can go awry •The 6 biases that lead individuals, communities, and institutions to make grave errors that cost lives •The Behavioral Risk Audit, a systematic approach for improving preparedness by recognizing these biases and designing strategies that anticipate them •Why, if we are to be better prepared for disasters, we need to learn to be more like ostriches, not less Fast-reading and critically important, The Ostrich Paradox is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand why we consistently underprepare for disasters, as well as private and public leaders, planners, and policy-makers who want to build more prepared communities.Trade Review"The Ostrich Paradox boldly addresses a key question of our time: Why are we humans so poor at dealing with disastrous risks, and what can we humans do about it? It is a must-read for everyone who cares about risk." * Daniel Kahneman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics and author of Thinking, Fast and Slow *"At a time when we face looming short- and long-term risks as varied as terrorism, cyberattacks, and climate change, this timely book diagnoses the innate psychological barriers to effective disaster planning and mitigation. Drawing on a variety of historical lessons and integrating insights into psychology, the authors prescribe practical approaches to disaster preparation. The Ostrich Paradox is a must-read, whether you are protecting the nation or your own family." * Michael Chertoff, Former United States Secretary of Homeland Security *"The Ostrich Paradox is an essential, sobering read for anyone interested in assessing and responding to tomorrow's hazards today. Robert Meyer and Howard Kunreuther don't just help us understand why we don't prepare for disasters as we should, they also show us how to alter those behaviors and improve preparedness." * Alan Schnitzer, Chief Executive Officer, The Travelers Companies, Inc. *"Good things typically come in threes. In The Ostrich Paradox, however, Meyer and Kunreuther skillfully distill a large body of recent psychological insights on the barriers to action in the face of potential peril into four steps of a behavioral risk audit and into four guiding principles to ensure preventive action." * Elke U. Weber, Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment and Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs, Princeton University *

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsContents List of Illustrations Introduction 1 • Naming the Nuclear Ghosts 2 • Spirited Away 3 • Kaleidoscopic Harm 4 • The Compensation Game 5 • Radioactive Mosquitos and the Science of Half-Lives 6 • Between Fūhyō and Fūka 7 • Frecon Baggu and the Archive of (Half-)Lives 8 • In Search of the Invisible 9 • A Wild Boar Chase Epilogue Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index

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