The sources we have used for this book include newspapers, magazines and books. The periodicals used include Do or Die!, Ecologist, Economist, Guardian, Independent, Independent on Sunday, New Ground, New Scientist, New Statesman, Observer, Scientific American, South American, Sunday Times and The Times. The following is a list of books that we have consulted or used in other ways. There is a virtual industry in writing on the environment, so we have highlighted and made brief comments against those books that we particularly recommend.
Where to Start
• Living in the Environment: Miller, Wadsworth, 1994
(a general view of environmental issues. A textbook but well written and presented)
• The Roots of Modern Environmentalism: Pepper, Routledge, 1986
(a good review of different outlooks, not as good as Eco-socialism (see below) but easier to read!)
General Issues
• Our Stolen Future: Colborn, Myers & Dumanoski, Little Brown, 1986
(investigates the effects of synthetic chemicals, particularly on hormones)
• Silent Spring: Rachel Carson, Hamilton, 1965
(the classic book that first drew attention to the effects of toxic chemicals)
• Environmental Systems: White Mottershead etc., Chapman & Hall, 1994
• Human Impact on the Environment: Goudie
• Changing the Face of the Earth: Simmons, Blackwell, 1989
• State of the World: Worldwatch Institute
• Man Made the Town: Middleton
Philosophy and Politics
• Eco-Socialism: From Deep Ecology to Social Justice: Pepper, Routledge, 1993
(Philosophical defence of the Marxist Approach, but written for university students. Not easy to read, but worth it!)
• How Deep is Deep Ecology?: Bradford, Times Change Press, 1989
(the classic book that first drew attention to the effects of toxic chemicals)
• Environmentalism: O’Riordon, Pio, 1981
• Catastrophe or Cornucopia: Cotgrave, Wiley, 1982
• Gaia: Lovelock, OUP, 1979
(important theory for many ‘Deep Greens’)
• Population Bomb: Erlich, 1970
(we have a go at this in this book, but see for yourself)
• Small is Beautiful: Schumacher, Blond & Briggs, 1973
• Managing the Commons: Harden & Baden, Freeman, 1977
(includes ‘the tragedy of the commons’)
• Whose Common Future?: The Ecologist, Earthscan, 1993
(good on discussing Hardin)
Green Politics
• The Green Reader: Dobson (Ed.), Deutsch, 1991
• Green Political Thought: Dobson, Hyman, 1990
• What on Earth is to Be Done?: Red-Green Study Group, 1995
(tries to bridge the gap between ‘Reds’ and ‘Greens’)
• Ecology for Beginners: Croall & Rankin, Icon, 1992
• Green Consumer Guide: Elkington & Hailes, Gollancz, 1988
• Green Capitalism: Elkington & Burke, Gollancz, 1987
Marxism
• Part Played by Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man: Engels
(or, if you’re feeling adventurous, try Anti-Dühring by Engels: again, not easy but worth it)
• Marx & Engels on Ecology: Parsons, 1977, Greenwood
(Out of print, but very good if you can find it – as long as you ignore the Stalinist madness in the second half of the introduction!)
• Economic and Political Manuscripts of 1848: Marx
• Socialism & Human Survival: Australian DSP, 1990, New Course
• Marxism & Ecology: Grundmann, Clarendon, 1991
• The Conditions of the Working Class in England (Engels) & some chapters of Capital and Gundrisse (Marx) also have some useful material on conditions in the towns and cities.
Energy
• The Energy Question: Foley, Penguin, 1987
(A good general review of uses and sources of energy)
• The Future of Energy Use: Hill, O’Keefe & Snape, Earthscan, 1995
Global Warming
• The Greenhouse Effect: Boyle & Ardill, New English Library, 1989
(Clearly explains the causes and possible effects of global warming)
• Turning Up the Heat: Pearce
Hunger & Neo-Colonialism
• How the Other Half Dies: Susan George, 1976, Penguin
(Some of the examples are a bit out-of-date, but still the best explanation of the real reasons for world hunger)
• Natural Disaster: Acts of God, Acts of Man: Wijerman & Timberlake, Earthscan
• A Fate Worse than Debt: Susan George, 1988, Penguin
• Ill Fares the Land: Susan George, 1984, Penguin
Early Colonialism
• A Long and Terrible Shadow: Berger, 1991
• Open Veins of Latin America: Galeano, 1971
Bio-Diversity & Rainforests
• The Diversity of Life: E. O. Wilson: Harvard, 1992
• The Fate of the Forest: Hecht & Cockburn: Penguin, 1990
(Excellent on the history of exploitation and the fight to defend the Amazon)
• Fight for the Forest: C. Mendes, LAS, 1992
• Introduction to World Forestry: Westoby, 1989
• In the Rainforest: Caulfield
Water and Soil
• The Dammed: F. Pearce, 1992
(Deals with the waste of mega-projects and the alternatives)
• The Threatening Desert: Alan Grainger, Earthscan, 1990
• Our Food, Our Land: Richard Body, Rider, 1991 (on government food policy)
Jobs and the Environment
• Jobs and the Environment: Tindale, SERA, 1996
(Provides some useful facts and info, but New Labour-type solutions are pathetic)
• Transport and the Environment: TGWU, 1995
• The Lucas Aerospace Plan: A New Trade Unionism in the Making: Wainwright & Elliot, Alison and Busby, 1982
• Swords to Ploughshares: Renners, Worldwatch Institute
Transport & Cities
• Shaping Cities: Marcia Lowe, World Watch Institute, 1991
• Alternatives to Automobiles: Marcia Lowe, World Watch Institute, 1991
• Beyond the Car: Essays on the Auto Culture: Zielenski & laird (eds.), Steel Rail Press, 1995
• Reclaiming our Cities and Towns: Engwicht, New Society Publishers, 1993
Human Nature & Evolution
• Ever Since Darwin: Stephen Jay Gould, Penguin, 1980
(We would recommend virtually all of Gould’s writings, but this is probably the best in dealing with science in society and it’s distortions)
• The Doctrine of DNA: Biology as Ideology: Lewontin, Penguin, 1993
(the best & most readable scientific challenge to biological determinism)
• Not in our Genes: Rose, Lewontin & Kamin, Penguin, 1998
• More than the Parts: Biology and Politics: Birk & Silvertowm (eds), Pluto, 1984
• The People of the Lake: Leakey & Lewin, Pelican, 1991
• Origins Reconsidered: Leakey & Lewin, Abacus, 1992
Humor
• Stark: Ben Elton, 1989
• Last Chance to See: Douglas Adams