THE BURNING EARTH

This bleak stunningly written book shows that the other side of the coin called progress is destruction Amrith writes like the finest novelist and his grasp of a mind boggling expanse of material is deeply impressive Neel Mukherjee New Statesman Sunil Amrith has given us the most readable global environmental history yet a towering achievement and a joy to read J R McNeill The Burning Earth is as beautiful as it is indispensable as breathtaking as it is devastating It answers questions most of us have been too daft even to ask It will set you on fire Jill Lepore author of These Truths A History of the United States A devastating panorama of human folly a poetic meditation on how the search for freedom from nature undermined the very conditions for life on earth Beautifully written Sunil Amrith s global and long term view is crucial to understanding the environmental predicaments we are in and perhaps to restore a distraught world A must read for anyone concerned with the state of the planet Sven Beckert author of Empire of Cotton Memorable and mesmerizing Sunil Amrith has gifted us a page turner of a book written with passionate lucidity Rob Nixon author of Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the PoorIn this paradigm shift