We're in a gigantic mess. Our civilization is collapsing, and we're dragging the whole Earth down with us. How do we make sense of such an awful situation?

Chris Wilson takes this question back to its historical and cultural roots, especially the belief that everything in Nature is merely a resource for us to use in whatever way we think fit.

This has given birth to an economy focused on industrial growth that is now so out of control that it threatens, in its death throes, to destroy all life on our planet.

But a very different future is still possible, a future in which both we and the planet can survive and thrive. What might that future look like - and how can we help it to emerge?

The author is a perennial 'outsider' with a healthy scepticism about our obsession with technological progress. He has worked in many fields, including science, education, building and psychotherapy. He brings his wide and varied experience, plus a wealth of academic knowledge, to this study.