Green Reads
Green Reads are book reviews by Green House Think Tank which reflect on work relevant to green politics.
Bringing Back the Beaver, the story of one man's quest to rewild Britain's waterways.
Of all the animals that roamed these isles but have now disappeared many think that the beaver is the most important one to bring back. Like us, beavers are ecosystem engineers, modifying their habitats to suit themselves
Food and Climate Change without the hot air
Bridle shows the emissions from various components of the meals she discusses. The book gives options for things we might eat and drink for breakfast, lunch, snacks and evening meal. She highlights foods that have the greatest climate impacts and suggests how meals can be tweaked to reduce emissions
Absolute Zero Carbon Britain
What is the best plan for how we can transition to a Zero Carbon Britain that faces up to the climate emergency? Zero Carbon Britain and Absolute Zero. This review contrasts the zero carbon plans in Zero Carbon Britain and Absolute Carbon, bot published since the UK committed to zero carbon by 2050
Dirt to Soil: one family's journey into Regenerative Agriculture
Gabe Brown discusses his principles of soil health and is useful to farmers and anyone concerned with food production and the state of farming.
Global Green Politics
Peter Newell’s first goal in this book is to guide the field of International Relations towards an endeavour long overdue. As set out in his first chapter, IR of all disciplines is one you would expect to have some appreciation of ecology and the biosphere, as the basis for wellbeing and security.
Managing without Growth; Slower by Design, not Disaster
The book’s subtitle seemed particularly apropos given the lockdowns many of us are experiencing. These establish an enforced slowdown on the world economy - an unfortunate natural experiment to test out some of the book’s ideas.
Wilding; the Return of Nature to a British Farm
Wilding raises two key issues. One is the challenge it poses to the established UK approach to nature conservation, and our approach to nature more generally. The other is whether we have more than enough food and should instead of producing food give land, such as that at Knepp over to Nature.
The Invention of Sustainability; Nature and Destiny c. 1500-1870
Ray Cunningham's review of Warde's book, which examines the invention of sustainability across different time periods and with different themes
Extinction, rebellion and Extinction Rebellion
John Foster's extended review of 'This Civilisation is Finished', 'Truth and its consequences' and 'Common Sense for the 21st Century' and concludes rapid action is imperative
'Optimism Over Despair' and 'Hope Without Optimism'
This green read explores hope, and considers these two books by Chomsky and Eagleton
Sapiens, A Brief History of Humankind
The book focuses on the development of human society. If we want to rebalance our impact on the earth it would probably help to understand how we have come to design the systems - society, the economy - that interact with it.
The Water Will Come
This book by Goodell highlights the devastating impacts of climate change due to rising sea levels, but holds out the hope that we could learn to live with water