Thursday, March 24, 2011

Fleeing Vesuvius, the US Edition

This hefty tome was published in Europe by Féasta, Ireland's Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability. It contains two articles by me: the first is a text version of the presentation I gave at the Féasta conference in Dublin two summers ago, which you can read right on this blog.

The US edition will be released on April 5, 2011.  You can pre-order yours at a savings of $9.67. All the money will go to support Féasta.
 
My second article in this volume—Sailing craft for a post-collapse world—is a long piece that I wrote exclusively for this publication. It spells out the transportation options that will still exist once fossil fuels are no longer available, concentrating on sail transport. It pulls together pertinent information that is currently scattered across many academic disciplines, and is also informed by my personal experience as an ocean sailor and live-aboard who does all of his own maintenance.

The full table of contents can be found here. The book can be purchased through Amazon.

Fleeing Vesuvius draws together many of the ideas our members have developed over the years and applies them to a single question—how can we bring the world out of the mess in which it finds itself?
Fleeing Vesuvius confronts this mess squarely, analyzing its many aspects: the looming scarcity of essential resources such as fossil fuels—the lifeblood of the world economy; the financial crisis in Ireland and elsewhere; the collapse of the housing bubble; the urgent need for food security; and the enormous challenge of dealing with climate change.

The solutions it puts forward involve changes to our economy and financial system, but they go much further: this substantial, wide-ranging book also looks at the changes needed in how we think, how we use the land and how we relate to others, particularly those where we live. While it doesn't discount the complexity of the problems we face, Fleeing Vesuvius is practical and fundamentally optimistic. It will arm readers with the confidence and knowledge they need to develop new, workable alternatives to the old-style expanding economy and its supporting systems. It's a book that can be read all the way through or used as a resource to dip in and out of.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Any plans for a Kindle edition? How about for your revised Collapse book?

My donkey said...

I especially liked the new (to me) idea of Cap & Share, discussed several times throughout the book. Unlike Cap & Trade, Cap & Share removes control from corporations and gives it to the people -- where it belongs -- and the distribution is completely fair, as every person gets an equal share.

Most North Americans have never heard of Cap & Share because our mainstream media never mentions it. I'm sure the idea will get more support as more people learn about it.

Anonymous said...

I know of one person planning to taking up sailing soon. He's a peak oil and global warming denier, hates immigrants, ex-military (dishonorable discharge), a fan of Glenn Beck and hate radio and the Tea Party: basically a poster boy for why the USA is going down the toilet.

Yet he's aware enough that the state of the union is declining quickly, and plans on buying a sailboat this year to avoid any potential upcoming unrest in the country.

His plan? To take up piracy on the open seas. I wish I was kidding, and remain, of course, thoroughly disgusted.

Just so you know the insanity won't be limited to mainland Mad Max scenarios. Perhaps you know of a book on avoiding pirates and protection for the small sailor on the open seas?

Nebris said...

Given the nature and content of this blog I find a request for a Kindle edition to be ironic.

Glenn said...

Mark Anthony,

Historically, pirates have had little success with those who shot back. I've been in the Service myself. It is very difficult to get a dishonorable discharge. I would suggest that your would be pirate's career will be quite short, and end very badly for him. Possibilities include, but are not limited to acute lead poisoning or a custom fitted hemp necktie...

Glenn,
Marrowstone Island
Master of the
Sloop - Boat
FEATHER
and the
Terror
of
Scow Bay

Spud said...

Actually, I think that given the nature of this blog it is "Ironic" to want a kindle version.
More like MORONIC....

Anonymous said...

A kindle doesn't need a lot of juice - a small $50 solar panel can charge it up in a day, resulting in a month of reading. It can store 1000's of books much easier than lugging said books around.
Just because economy, society collapses doesn't mean we will lose our collective knowledge. I expect given the necessity people will develop new forms of electricity. Google "can water store charge?" (article in Langmuir) for one idea.

Shadowfax said...

All my reference books are hard copy,the electronic books are strictly for entertainment.I think its crazy to rely on an electronic device for anything important.

p01 said...

Actually, I think that given the nature of this blog it is "Ironic" to want a kindle version.
More like MORONIC....

Given this is a BLOG, I think this is way beyond MORONIRONIC...it borders on deludedironomoronicodumbonic.

Wyoming said...

D.O.,

You might find interesting a report that was just on CNN about small numbers of older farmers moving back into the restricted zones around Chernobyl. One interviewed said that they felt it was safer than living where they were before because there the snow came down black instead of white (coal mining area?). Makes one wonder a bit about the produce at the farmes markets in Kiev.

Anonymous said...

US edition shipped already - I got mine last week from Amazon - good book

SolarBob said...

"Ocean Arks: The Conceptualization of a Sailing Ship, the Margaret Mead" by John Todd
What follows is a vision that is rapidly moving toward reality.
The vision is of ocean arks, ecological "Hope" ships, great sailing vessels to ply the seas on behalf of the planet. Such ocean arks can bring together the farmer, the sailor, and the vagabond within us. In my view, they are needed for planetary as well as
psychological reasons.
pp.46-55 The CoEvolution Quarterly Fall 1979

http://www.wholeearth.com/issue-electronic-edition.php?iss=2023