Category Archives: Books Authors E thru H

“Sustainability” Chris Goodall

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Goodall_SustainabilityISBN 978-1-4441-7440-3. The “All That Matters” book on “Sustainability” by Chris Goodall was published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2012. This is a small book that fits nicely in your pocket with only 154 pages. The blurb says that “All That Matters” books are written by “the world’s leading experts”. Certainly Chris is that. We are a big fan (we admit it). We will read anything he writes including his excellent blogs. So it is interesting to see how his work has evolved over the years. Those who have followed his work can’t help but notice that THIS book reveals a lot about the current state of Chris’s mind. So, what does he think today about sustainability?

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“The Long Descent” John Michael Greer

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Greer_Long_DescentISBN 978-0-86571-609-4. “The Long Descent – A User’s Guide to the End of the Industrial Age” by John Michael Greer was published by New Society in 2008. Well over two years ago we reviewed Greer’s “The Ecotechnic Future” and generally quite liked his work. “The Long Descent” is essentially the same book reworked into a new form. If you read one you pretty much get the other. In his last book Greer challenged the ‘sudden collapse’ beliefs of the Peak Oil crowd. For him it would be a drawn-out descent of several hundred years. In THIS work Greer spends more time unravelling the cultural origins of both the ‘sudden collapse’ & what he calls the “myth of progress”.

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“Future Scenarios” by David Holmgren

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ISBN 978 1 900322 50 8. “Future Scenarios – How communities can adapt to peak oil and climate change” by David Holmgren was published by Green Books in 2009. Although only three or four years old this book already looks dated somehow. It is a contemporary of Rob Hopkins’ original “Transition Handbook” and Shaun Chamberlin’s “Transition Timeline“. There was a brief flurry if such publications a few years back – but, no more. Their apparent visions of imminent energy collapse proved empty. What we got instead was financial collapse. Still, there is nothing obsolete in this publishing genre. It took as a while to catch up with this publication. So, let’s take a brief walk down memory lane to remember how it all began… Continue reading →

The Green Building Bible Vol 1 & 2 (4th Edition)

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ISBN 978-1-898130-05-5 & 978-1-898130-06-2 The Green Building Bible Volumes 1 and 2 (Fourth Edition) were published by the Green Building Press in 2008. We last reviewed the Green Building Bible vol 1 – 3rd edition - in 2007. We received the latest two volumes as a free gift when we subscribed to the Green Building Magazine. A quick glance over at www.greenbuildingbible.co.uk shows that this fourth edition is the latest, however it is now four years out of date. In this fast moving market that makes it a dinosaur – well at least the first volume is extremely dated. Back in 2007 we didn’t have vol 2. This (although much slimmer) is actually far more interesting as it contains much technical material that doesn’t date as quickly. Continue reading →