A New Green History of the World: The Environment and the Collapse of Great Civilizations

by Clive Ponting

book data

86 ratings, 3.99 average rating, 23 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		31%
4		41%
3		20%
2		5%
1		0%

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published

April 30th 2007 by Vintage (first published 1991)

details

Paperback, 464 pages

isbn

0099516683 (isbn13: 9780099516682)

description

Clive Ponting's original and provocative history of human civilization—now in a thoroughly revised, expanded, and updated edition

Years ahead of its …more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 191)

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Apr 27, 2009

AJ rated it:

(review of isbn 0143038982)

bookshelves: 2009, do-not-own, environment, library, nonfiction

Read in May, 2009

Clive Ponting tackles the challenge of telling world history through the lens of environmentalism. The book is informative and interesting, but I found it dry and clinical, with an overemphasis on numbers and percentages.

The main thesis of the book is that there were two great transformations in human society (the invention of agriculture and then the predominant use of non-renewable resources and fossil fuels to obtain our energy needs) that have had huge impacts on the environmenta...more Clive Ponting tackles the challenge of telling world history through the lens of environmentalism. The book is informative and interesting, but I found it dry and clinical, with an overemphasis on numbers and percentages.

The main thesis of the book is that there were two great transformations in human society (the invention of agriculture and then the predominant use of non-renewable resources and fossil fuels to obtain our energy needs) that have had huge impacts on the environmental degradation of our planet.

In the case of agriculture, the use of land for crops led to deforestation, the creation of highly unusable land after too much irrigation led to massive salinization of the soil, and disease as people lived in close quarters with domesticated animals. This also led to a rapid increase in population, urbanization, colonialism, extinction and homogenization of plant and animals, and, led to society as we know it today.

The second transformation is much more obvious to those of us living in twenty-first century. We are aware of the environmental and social impacts of relying on non-renewable resources for our energy. (Although I did find it interesting, and totally obvious in retrospect, that even when humans were using renewable resources for fuel, they used them in highly non-renewable ways.)

I think the most interesting part of this book was just learning that there never was any sort of golden age in history where there was no pollution, environmental damage being wrought by humans, corruption in huge corporations, etc. Since the dawn of agriculture, humans have pretty much been doing all they can to exploit the planet for maximum gain (although with relatively good intentions - namely to feed, clothe and shelter people). These days we see it in the unstoppable growth of multinational corporations and the ridiculous amounts of profits they obtain from exploiting the resources of the planet.

The author also goes into (briefly) the huge impacts of colonialism and how the impacts are still a huge part of our planet these days in terms of which countries are developed, and which segments of the population are rich and poor. I find it sickening how little regard humans have had for other populations as early as the rise of the first societies.

At the end of the book, the author mostly just summarizes the main points he made throughout without offering any call to action as most environmental books do. He just states, quite obviously, that future prospects are bleak if we continue to consume as much (although we will most likely keep consuming more) as we do today. A rather bleak outlook, but realistic nonetheless. He holds little hope that there will be any sort of systemic change, as most societies in world history never changed their ways, and inevitably declined as a result.(less)

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Mar 07, 2008

Keith rated it:

Read in January, 2008

Unfortunately, I didn't really learn anything new, but I had never seen a book that confirmed what I had empirically observed. Having visited the entire Mediterranean area and Middle East I saw the signs of historic deforestation and overgrazing and bad agricultural practices. I recognized the signs I had grown up recognizing in the American Southwest. So seeing Greek islands rendered barren from grazing sheep and goats, is was no stretch to imagine the earlier civilizations destroying their ...more

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Jul 07, 2009

Mimi Somsanith rated it:

(review of isbn 0140176608)

bookshelves: good-to-browse

I'm fortunate to have learned my lesson from previous reads and go through the Table of Contents before suffering throughout most of this book. The last handful of chapters I read was enough to keep me awake. It seems as though most civilization/environmental books go through a version of history and development similarly with few points here and there that are cool to know.

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Mar 12, 2010

Greg Bruce rated it:

(review of isbn 0140176608)

Read in March, 2010

Very informative book looking at history from an environmental perspective. A little disappointed with the ending about it historically being too soon to conclude whether or not high-energy/high-consumption societies are sustainable. All the evidence in the book points very strongly to no.

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May 05, 2009

Ian rated it:

(review of isbn 0140176608)

This book is a history of human civilization from the perspective of human impact on environment. Interesting perspective for history/ environmentally interested readers. Not as insightful as you'd like.

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Dec 17, 2008

Julia Jackson rated it:

(review of isbn 0140176608)

Read in February, 2009

Well, i can't lie, about 2/3 of the way through I started skimming and then I basically skipped the last 3 chapters, or REALLY skimmed them.
It's a good book, but I found the beginning the most information because it contained stuff that was mostly new to me. The last half of the book made points that I was already aware of and then supported those points with way more information than I was interested in.
I think I would recommend this book over Collapse (by Jared Diamond. Although i...more

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Jan 18, 2009

Patsy rated it:

(review of other edition)

Read in November, 2008

recommends it for: those interested in sustainable practices

Ponting has brought out an updated version of his study of civilizations and their failure to consider the limits of finite resources.

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Nov 04, 2009

Kevin Belanger rated it:

(review of isbn 0140176608)

Read in October, 2009

Required book for Environmental Sociology... really dense, and I'd love to have time to really sift through it.

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Jul 28, 2009

Sandy rated it:

(review of isbn 0140176608)

Read in July, 2009

Succinct acount of the ancient and modern destructiveness of humans. If you like facts and figures, here they are.

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Apr 30, 2009

Sunny is currently reading it (review of isbn 0140176608)

bookshelves: currently-reading

recommended to Sunny by: read it for school

neat stuff. Cool ideas. Great read if you need something to get you inspired to save the world.

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Sep 11, 2008

Keith Gigliello rated it:

(review of isbn 0143038982)

This is basically a textbook. Really tough to read the whole thing straight through. However it’s very informative and gives you a factual account of human interaction with our environment from the time of hunter gathers to modern day humans. You understand that humans as a species have used the planet for our own needs without thinking of the consequences for most of our time on this planet. It’s kind of depressing at times however I still recommend this book because it will make you app...more

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2 comments

Feb 01, 2009

Elizabeth marked it as to-read (review of other edition)

bookshelves: in-my-office, to-read, withdrawn-fr-bvtn--city-library

c 1991 excellent condition
dustjacket picture of sunrise or sunset

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Dec 29, 2008

Zack rated it:

(review of isbn 0143038982)

Read in February, 2009

The book was incredibly informative and did a good job making its argument. The first parts of the book discussing what we know of the oldest civilizations were fascinating, and the perspective it gave by covering human civilization from the hunter and gatherer period all the way through the early 21st century was just cool. The editor didn't do a very good job though, for a second edition there were a lot more typos than I expected.

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Feb 13, 2008

Mickey Somsanith rated it:

(review of isbn 0140176608)

bookshelves: favorites

Read in November, 2007

recommends it for: Everyone

This is a great book! If you wanted to learn about different societies, and how they met their demise. It's a very depressing book, but at the same time it has a lot of facts in it, and it'll give you a chance to see beyond your own world. Read it and I believe that you'll love it, if not, then at least you've opened your mind to a whole new perspective.

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Sep 17, 2007

Maia Mary rated it:

(review of isbn 0140176608)

Read in April, 2008

while i read this i see out of the corner of my eye an old old print-out of Harvard classics I meant to read before graduating from college. i've only the first page, but i'm 0 for 0, so why not read a book about a collapsing civilization? just how many canons are out there? really, i want to know.

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Feb 11, 2007

A-ron rated it:

(review of isbn 1856190501)

bookshelves: history, nonfiction

Read in November, 1992

Another influential read for me. This book may not be a towering classic, but was an accessible path for me into history from an environmental perspective.

Although I was basically born an environmentalist, the books I read at this time in my life formed the foundation of my thinking.

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Mar 17, 2008

Keri rated it:

(review of isbn 0140176608)

Read in January, 1997

I read this book for a history of environment class. it was one of the best perspectives on history I ever read. from diseases to agriculture... Completely fascinating. a new edition was recently released. i think that I may just have to read that one too.

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Mar 23, 2008

Sherri rated it:

(review of isbn 0140176608)

Totally made me rethink the way I viewed human history as being much more interconnected with our environment and the randomness of nature than we like to admit.

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