A New Green History of the World: The Environment and the Collapse of Great Civilizations

by Clive Ponting (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2007

  $13.92

• Used

  Paperback
  1994

  $3.36

  A study of world civilizations, from Sumeria to Ancient Egypt to the Roman Empire of pre-Columbian North America and tiny Easter Island, that argues that over and over again, human beings have built societies that have grown and prospered by exploiting the Earth's resources, only to expand to the point where those resources could no longer sustain the societies' populations, and subsequently collapse. In this context, the collapse of Rome has vital importance for our modern global civilization. Destructive environmental behaviour today takes place on a scale much greater than in previous times, and the results will be similarly multiplied. This book, calmly and sanely, argues for an increased realization of the finite nature of our resources, and the impact on our world should we continue squandering those resources.

• New

  Paperback
  2007

  $14.53

  Like Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel, Clive Ponting's book studies the relationship between the environment and human history. It examines world civilisations from Sumeria to ancient Egypt, from Easter Island to the Roman Empire and it argues that human beings have repeatedly built societies that have grown and prospered by exploiting the Earth's resources, only to expand to the point where those resources could no longer sustain the societies' populations and cause subsequent collapse. This new edition of Clive Ponting's international bestseller has been revised, expanded and updated. It provides not only a compelling story of how we have damaged the environment for thousands of years but also an up-to-the-minute assessment of the crisis facing the world today - and the problems that have to be addressed in the search for solutions.