‘Ways of Being: Animals, Plants, Machines: The Search for a Planetary Intelligence’ by James Bridle
Penguin 2023 ISBN 978-0141994260 Reviewed by Ian Mowll _____________________________________________________________________________________ In [...]
‘Journey to Hopeful Futures’ by Helena Kettleborough
Centre for Connected Practice Manchester, UK (2003) ISBN 9781916300811 Reviewed [...]
‘Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge and the Management of California’s Natural Resources’ by M. Kat Anderson
University of California Press ISBN 978-0520280434 Reviewed by Ian Mowll [...]
‘The Story of Gaia’ by Jude Currivan
Inner Traditions, 2022 ISBN: 978-1644115312 [...]
‘Magical Britain: 650 Enchanted and Mystical Sites’ by Rob Wildwood
Wild Things Publishing (2022) ISBN 978-1910636305 Reviewed by Piers Warren ___________________________________________________________________________________________ [...]
‘Nature Is Never Silent: how animals and plants communicate with each other’ by Madlen Ziege, translated by Alexandra Roesch
Scribe UK, 2021-10-31 ISBN: 978-1913348243 Reviewed by Marian Van Eyk [...]
‘Sacred Actions: Living the Wheel of the Year through Earth-Centred Sustainable Practices’ by Dana O’Driscoll
Red Feather (2021) ISBN 978-0764361531 Reviewed by Piers Warren [...]
‘To Speak for the Trees: My Life’s Journey from Ancient Celtic Wisdom to a Healing Vision of the Forest’ by Diana Beresford-Kroeger
Timber Press, 2021 ISBN: 978-1643261324 Reviewed by Marian Van Eyk [...]
‘Healing Breath: A Guided Meditation through Nature for Kids’ by William Meyer, illustrated by Brittany R. Jacobs.
New World Library, 2021 ISBN: 9781608687466 Reviewed by Margie Schneider [...]
‘The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity’s Search for Meaning’ by Jeremy Lent
Prometheus Books, 2017 ISBN: 978-1633882935 Reviewed by Ian Mowll [...]
‘Rewilding: The radical new science of ecological recovery’ by Paul Jepson & Cain Blythe
Icon Books Ltd, 2020 ISBN: 978-1785786273 Reviewed by Marian Van [...]
‘Evolution: The Whole Story’ by Steve Parker (Ed)
Foreword by Alice Roberts Thames & Hudson, 2015 [...]
‘Evolutionary Herbalism: Science, Spirituality, and Medicine from the Heart of Nature’ by Sajah Popham
North Atlantic Books, 2019 ISBN: 978-1623173135 Reviewed by Emma Farrell [...]
‘How to See Nature’ by Paul Evans
Batsford, 2018 ISBN: 978-1849944939 Reviewed by Marian Van Eyk McCain [...]
‘Underland: A Deep Time Journey’ by Robert Macfarlane
Hamish Hamilton, 2019 ISBN: 978-0241143803 Reviewed by Ian Mowll [...]
‘Wilding: The return of nature to a British farm’ by Isabella Tree
Picador, 2018 ISBN: 978-1-5098-0509-9 Reviewed by Marian [...]
‘Other Minds: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life’ by Peter Godfrey-Smith
William Collins (2017) ISBN: 978-0008226299 Reviewed by Ian Mowll [...]
‘Healing Earth: An Ecologist’s Journey of Innovation and Environmental Stewardship’ by John Todd
North Atlantic Books, 2019 ISBN: 978-1623172985 Reviewed by Trevor Sharman [...]
‘Beyond Words: What Animals Think And Feel’ by Carl Safina
Henry Holt & Co (2015) ISBN: 978-0-8050-9888-4 [...]
‘The Biotime Log’, introduced by Maddy Harland, with illustrations by Jane Bottomley
Permanent Publications, 2018 ISBN: 978-1856233217 Reviewed by Hilary Norton ____________________________________________________________ [...]
‘The Vegan Cook & Gardener: Growing, storing and cooking delicious healthy food all year round’ by Piers Warren & Ella Bee Glendining
Permanent Publications, 2018 ISBN: 978-1856233187 Reviewed by Marian Van Eyk McCain [...]
‘Fertile Edges: Regenerating land, culture and hope’ by Maddy Harland
Permanent Publications, 2017 ISBN: 978 1 85623 309 [...]
‘Wayside Medicine: Forgotten Plants and how to use them’ by Julie Bruton-Seal and Matthew Seal
Merlin Unwin Books, 2017 ISBN: 978-1910723357 Reviewed by Diana Lee _____________________________________________________________ [...]
‘Raised By Animals: The Surprising New Science Of Animal Family Dynamics’ by Jennifer L. Verdolin (with a Foreword by Marc Bekoff)
The Experiment, April 2017 ISBN: 978-1615193448 Reviewed by Marian Van Eyk [...]
‘Carnivore Minds: Who these fearsome animals really are’ by G. A. Bradshaw
Yale University Press, 2017 ISBN: 978-0300218152 Reviewed by Marian Van [...]
“The Garden Awakening: Designs to nurture our land and ourselves” by Mary Reynolds
Mary Reynolds is a talented Irishwoman with ancient magic in her blood and a sublime sense of beauty, both of which she brings to her work as a garden designer. Her aim is to create gardens that are very natural places, gardens in which the energy flows freely and abundantly and which also evoke in us a sense of homecoming, in that they reconnect us with the pulse of Nature and remind us that we, too, are part of the natural world.
‘The Empowerment Manual: A guide for collaborative groups ‘ by Starhawk
The Manual seeks to identify the key elements that enable collaborative groups to thrive, how their healthy development can be facilitated with many practical exercises and rituals drawn from and credited to a wide range of sources. Starhawk illustrates her concepts by applying these elements and processes to a dramatically created fictional co-housing cooperative working its way through difficulties and challenges. And she ends by referring to the amazing levels of global collaboration offered by digital technology and how all organisations must adapt and evolve to the changing contexts of our times.
‘Life on the Edge: The Coming of Age of Quantum Biology’ by Jim Al-Khalili and Johnjoe McFadden
A physicist and a professor of molecular biology lead us into a new scientific world in which physics and biology talk to one another – and the results are very exciting. In the past quantum physics pretty much had the monopoly of physics, and biology was limited to the world of classical science. The experiments by which the quantum world was understood required very precise conditions which are not found in the messy world of Nature. However, as this book demonstrates life at every level depends on the movement of fundamental particles that are governed by quantum rules.
‘Deep Green Living (GreenSpirit ebooks Book 6)’ Edited by Marian Van Eyk McCain
This ebook on Deep Green Living is a collection of articles written by fourteen different authors and is in four parts. The first is about feeling our sense of place on the Earth, the second looks at our lifestyles, the third is about wildness and the final part discusses our relationship with the natural world. The intention of the ebook is to help us to find our place in the world and to inspire us to live in good relationship with the Earth and all beings.
‘Nature Spirituality from the Ground Up: Connect with Totems in Your Ecosystem’ by Lupa
This author is an ecopsychologist with a counselling practice, and her specialty, which she describes as 'bioregional totemism' takes a much wider and more holistic approach than many of her colleagues. She calls it a self-created, spirit-centred neoshamanic path. It begins with a reminder that everything we touch came in some way from a natural source and that: …even living in the middle of the city, I spend every moment immersed in nature. "
‘Not So Different: Finding Human Nature in Animals’ by Nathan H. Lents
As twigs from the same branch of the same family tree, we have the same instincts, the same repertoire of feelings, the same traits, and many of the same behavioural tendencies as many other species. Such qualities as fidelity, loyalty, morality and altruism are alive and well amongst our quadripedal relatives and the lines dividing us from them are in fact very thin ones. This compact and comprehensive book describes many feelings and behaviours our non-human relatives share with us such as those relating to justice, sex, love, fear, grief, envy and jealousy. This is a readable, interesting and straightforward book backed up with an extensive collection of scientific references.
‘Vitamin N: The Essential Guide to a Nature-Rich Life’ by Richard Louv
Dazzled and seduced by 21st century technology, our children—and we ourselves—tend to spend so much time staring at screens nowadays that there is no time left for a walk in the woods, for gazing dreamily into the night sky or even for enjoying some peace and silence. Following on from Last Child in the Woods and The Nature Principle, this third book from Richard Louv is a huge and marvellous collection of ideas and resources aimed at getting families of all ages back outside and interacting with the rest of Nature.
‘The Genius of Birds’ by Jennifer Ackerman
In this fascinating and intensively-researched book, Jennifer Ackerman delves deeply into the minds and abilities of our feathered companions and reveals some of the remarkable discoveries that have been made in recent years about the true nature and extent of avian intelligence. Once we learn to stop defining intelligence in terms of what we excel at and study birds on their own terms, there is a wealth of fascinating information to be gained.
‘Embracing Complexity: Strategic Perspectives for an Age of Turbulence’ by Jean G. Boulton, Peter M. Allen and Cliff Bowman
We have, in our western society, the god of science. So often we hear “scientists say…” in the press. And, for many people, this implies a statement of authority. But the problem is that western science is essentially value-less. This mind-set has led to such things as testing on animals, factory farming and the proliferation of deadly weapons. How did we get to this place and what can be done about it? Whilst the book covers a lot of territory, this is the key question it addresses.
‘A Cree Healer and His Medicine Bundle: Revelations of Indigenous Wisdom–Healing Plants, Practices, and Stories’ by David Young, Robert Rogers and Russell Willier
pbk 328 pp North Atlantic Books 2015 ISBN: 978-1583949030 Reviewed [...]
‘The Optimistic Environmentalist: Progressing Toward a Greener Future’
As an environmental lawyer, Canadian writer David Boyd knows full well that much of the environmental news these days is bad news. However he also knows that although news tends to make more compelling headlines than good news, there is good news to be found. Although we have a very, very long way to go, it is a fact that: From air pollution to safe drinking water, from greener cities to renewable energy, we've made remarkable but widely underacknowledged progress. And his aim was to document as many examples of this kind of good news as he could fit between two covers.
‘Blue Mind’ by Wallace J. Nichols
Ranging as it does from in-depth explanations of neuropsychological processes to personal stories from surfers, divers, fishermen, sailors and others, this book is so impressively comprehensive that it could easily have been subtitled 'Everything you always wanted to know about our human relationship to water and lots more that you never even imagined.'
‘The Practitioner’s Encyclopedia of Flower Remedies: The Definitive Guide to All Flower Remedies, their Making and Uses’ by Clare G. Harvey
Clare Harvey writes that Dr Bach told her grandmother that though his essences were complete in themselves in the future there would be the need for essences from all over the world. Over the last 30 or so years there has been a worldwide explosion of new essences so that from the first 28 discovered by Dr Bach there are now literally thousands. In this compilation the writer has collected over 3,000 essences and combination remedies and listed them by continent and producer with the explanations and applications provided by their suppliers. Each section has its own introduction and the whole provides a very comprehensive reference book.
‘The Triumph of Seeds: How grains, nuts, kernels, pulses and pips conquered Nature and shaped human history’ by Thor Hanson
Just as William Blake talked about seeing the world in a grain of sand, Thor Hanson is able to see the whole world in a seed. And through his writing, he opens that world to us. From the tiniest, almost invisible seed of an epiphytic orchid to the forty-pound coco de mer, seeds come in all shapes and sizes and colours and employ an amazing diversity of methods for dispersing themselves and finding their way to somewhere they can germinate and grow. On that search and that settlement of seed into soil, now rests the whole of life on land—our own human lives included.
‘Rewild Yourself: Becoming Nature’ by Rachel Corby
In recent years, as modern life causes more and more of us to become emotionally disconnected from the Earth upon which all our lives depend, we are realizing that it is not just the land we live in that needs rewilding but our own selves. This means finding ways to break down all the artificial boundaries that we humans have tried to place between ourselves and the rest of Nature. It means recognizing that we are—and always have been and always will be—an intrinsic part of the Earth, cells in the body of a living planet. Furthermore, it means re-learning how to live our daily lives out of that knowing. It means coming back 'down to Earth' in the truest sense of that phrase: consciously re-immersing ourselves in every way possible in the natural world that surrounds is, both without and within. That way lies healing—for ourselves and our planet.
‘Gardening with the Moon & Stars’ by Elen Sentier
Growing plants, particularly as food, can enable wonderful insight into the processes of life. Biodynamics, which links our work as gardeners to our cosmic context and to microscopic processes is a powerful invitation to step into a sense of the sacredness and wonder of these processes.
‘Protecting the Wild: Parks and Wilderness, the Foundation For Conservation’ by George Wuerthner, Eileen Crist, and Tom Butler (Editors)
As John Terborgh points out in his Foreword: One of the great challenges to be faced by conservationists now and in the future will be that of clarifying in the public mind the distinction between ecosystem services and biodiversity protection. A program can, in some cases, provide both. In this book we hear the voices of several dozen conservationists from around the world, including well-known spokespeople like Jane Goodall and George Monbiot, about how these challenges are being met.
‘Saved by the Sea: Hope, Heartbreak and Wonder in the Blue World’ by David Helvarg
Most of us are unaware of the extent to which humans are destroying the ecosystems of our planet's vast seas and oceans. But for David Helvarg, who loves the sea and loves to swim and surf and dive and really interact with the water—and who is also a trained journalist with deep passions and an enquiring mind—there is no way to ignore the tragedy that is happening in that vast, salty realm and to all who live there, from the tiniest krill to the largest whale. And no way to shirk the task of telling the world about it.
‘Brilliant Green: The Surprising History and Science of Plant Intelligence’ by Stefano Mancuso and Alessandra Viola
We recognize the familial bonds we have with other animals, for like us they all have eyes and a heart and a brain and, despite vast differences of form, we are all variations on a theme. But a plant—well that is ‘something else.’ It is sedentary, fixed in place, lacking internal organs, lacking a face. To our anthropocentric human minds, plants are either commodities or decorations. We don’t see them for who they actually are: fellow beings with whom we and all other life forms share the vast co-operative adventure called life on Earth. For in fact, plants process information, just as we do. They sleep and wake, just like us. Like us, they can see, feel, touch and remember. They can also communicate with each other and with other organisms They just do it differently, that's all.
Sustainable World Sourcebook: Critical Issues, Viable Solutions, Resources for Action (4th Edition, 2014)
If you wanted a comprehensive yet succinct overview to present to someone with scant knowledge of social/environmental issues, to anyone interested in sustainability, or to a group looking for action ideas and/or discussion topics, this would be your perfect resource book. It is, in fact, a practical and inspirational one-stop shop for all things green. It covers social justice, energy, climate change, economics, communities and all aspects of the environmental issues that our world is currently facing. Inspirational and potentially attitude-changing.
‘The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light’ by Paul Bogard
By lighting up the Earth to the point where hardly anyone gets to see the stars any more we are cheating ourselves and our descendants out of an experience that should be their birthright—but which, after a few generations, nobody is going to know is even possible. Also, since all living beings evolved on a planet where nights are dark, we are unthinkingly disrupting countless ecological systems and cycles that have existed since life began. This book chronicles its author's journey across the USA in search of really dark skies and his conversations with those he met along the way, including astronomers, who face increasing challenges from light pollution, and urban planners who are starting to look at how we might light our cities and towns more subtly and sustainably in order to preserve the darkness our bodies—and our souls—actually need for good health.
‘Don’t Even Think About It: Why our brains are wired to ignore climate change’ by George Marshall
As the title suggests, this is not a book about climate science. It’s about humans and the weird but inescapable fact that we, as the species whose actions have contributed so heavily to climate change, seem utterly incapable not only of addressing the issue but even of admitting that it exists. Why? Why don’t we all join the dots and amend our lifestyles to lower carbon emissions? Marshall is convinced that the real answers to do not lie in the things that drive us apart so much as the things we all share: our common psychology, our perception of risk, and our deepest instincts to defend our family and tribe. This book, the result of years of research, provides a full and fascinating explanation of this phenomenon and what we might do about it.
‘The Herbalist’s Bible: John Parkinson’s Lost Classic Rediscovered’ by Julie Bruton-Seal and Matthew Seal
The Herbalist’s Bible is a translation of a description of fifty of the 3,800 herbs outlined in John Parkinson’s ‘Theatricum Botanicum’. Parkinson, master herbalist to Charles 1, published his ‘Magnum Opus’ in 1640. It was never reprinted and is now an extremely valuable rare book. The recent publication of The Herbalist’s Bible makes this valuable contribution to the literature of Western Herbalism accessible once more. Unique amongst many herbal reference books, this book contains reproductions of the original manuscript complete with detailed line drawings, alongside a modern translation, including descriptions of therapeutic applications illustrated with high quality photographs.
‘Sustainable Revolution: Permaculture in Ecovillages, Urban Farms and Communities Worldwide’ by Juliana Birnbaum & Louis Fox
After an impassioned Foreword by Paul Hawken and some excellent explanations of Permaculture principles and ethics, this colourful and lavishly illustrated book takes us on a tour around the entire globe visiting no fewer than sixty different—and all equally inspiring—projects based either directly or indirectly on Permaculture concepts. These range from desert reclamation in the hottest, driest area in Jordan to the re-establishment of forest in India to educational urban farms like Melbourne's Ceres and from long-established communities such as Findhorn on the north coast of Scotland to a newly-established eco-village in Kenya.
‘Collapsing Consciously: Transformative Truths for Turbulent Times’ by Carolyn Baker
In a collapsing world, it is no good surviving physically unless we can also survive—and help each other survive—emotionally and spiritually, and the aim of this book is to help us do just that. The first two-thirds of the book describe and explain, in 109 easy-to-read, wisdom-packed pages, the psycho-spiritual preparations that need to be made for the collapse that has already begun, and why, even though the collapse may be a long, slow process, it is so vital that we start making them. The last third consists of a carefully-chosen set of 52 weekly 'meditations' – in the sense of quotes and thoughts to be pondered upon – all geared towards helping us deal with the collapse of our old world whilst also saving and guarding the seeds we hope to plant in the new one that will—we hope—eventually rise from the ruins.