My new book

Darrin Qualman’s Civilization Critical is a thoughtful, thoroughly documented analysis of the runaway train we are all aboard.  Anyone worried about the track ahead should read it.  Those not worried should read it more than once.
—Ronald Wright, author of A Short History of Progress

Civilization Critical is now available.  You can order it from your local independent bookstore; from the publisher, Fernwood Press; or from Amazon. Turning the Tide books in Saskatoon has stock on hand, and if you’re not in the area, they’d be glad to ship you a copy.  

The book focuses on civilizations, energy, food, and material flows,  It gives readers a below-decks look at the engines, fuel supplies, plumbing, wiring, and machinery that make and move our modern world. And it also examines the environmental threats now intensifying around us.

Civilization Critical looks at the big picture and the long term. It tackles the big questions and big ideas of history and the modern world: how food systems work, the spread of railways, the rise of industry, the dawn of the consumer age, the transformative effects of the steam engine, and how we wrest fuels from the Earth.

Why is the Amazon rainforest shrinking, while Amazon.com is growing rapidly? You will find that and other answers in the masterful book of Darrin Qualman who takes us for a intriguing ride along the history of energy, materials and the living world, ending with a call for the transformation of our civilization.
—Wolfgang Sachs, author of Planet Dialectics

 

Civilization critical back cover
Civilization critical back cover