The Transition Handbook

Rob Hopkins. Green Books 2008, Paperback, 224 pages, £12.95

I really can’t recommend this book highly enough, but if you need more convincing…

“a must-read labelled, ‘immediate’ “ - Jeremy Leggett, founder of Solarcentury and SolarAid

“The Transition Handbook will come to be seen as one of the seminal books which emerged at the end of the Oil Age” - Patrick Holden, director of the Soil Association

“There is no more important book than this one for any community seeking to change toward ecological sustainability” - Jerry Mander, founder/director of the International Forum on Globalization

“There is no better call to action than this book, and no better guide to the hands-on creation of a liveable future” - Dr Stephan Harding, co-ordinator of the MSc Holistic Science at Schumacher College

“This is much more than just a book. It is a manual for a movement. And not just any movement, but one which could prove to be the most important social force humanity has ever seen” - Mark Lynas, author of Six Degrees

“The Transition movement is the best news there’s been for a long time and this manual is a goldmine of inspiration to get you started” - New Internationalist

“The most important book we have yet published” - John Elford, Green Books (publishers of LOTS of VERY good books)

“The book succeeds brilliantly at every level… Seriously, this is one of the most important books in the sustainability field to appear in this decade” - Robert Morgan, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science at the University of Glamorgan and Co-Director, The Green College

“The newly published Transition Handbook is so important that I am tempted just to confine this review to five simple words ‘You must read this book!’” - Richard Barnett, editor of Ethical Pulse (Ethical Junction’s newletter)

Need yet more convincing?

Watch these videos!

Caroline Lucas Launches The Transition Handbook

Rob Hopkins’ on the Transition Handbook

Read these reviews…

• A Review of The Transition Handbook by Graham Strouts of Zone5.org
• The Transition Handbook Reviewed in ‘The Guardian’
• Review of Transition Handbook from New Internationalist magazine
• Another Review of The Transition Handbook by Richard Barnett, editor of Ethical Pulse
• Patrick Whitefield Reviews The Transition Handbook
• A review from Friends of the Earth Earthmatters Magazine
• Carbusters Magazine review

Enjoy!

Josef.

See also:

• Transition Towns
• My del.icio.us bookmarks for January 2nd through January 13th
• Convergence 13: Transition Strategies
• Money as Debt
• Spitalfields Green Fair - 16th July

After our last Open Coin meeting George Walker took us into his office to continue chatting.

He is a fascinating chap, check out his CV (.pdf).

In the first OpenCoin meeting he said (in a strong Scottish accent):

“I think there is going to be a global currency. I call it the Global. This will either be a top-down currency from the IMF and World Bank, like existing SDRs (Special Drawing Rights), or a bottom-up, grassroots initiative, like what you are doing, which is much more exciting”

He went on to say:

“either you guys are going to be billionaires, or its fines and jail”.

And:

“I can defend you in court, I’ve not been to court for a while now, and then I can write a book about it”

Anyway, in his capacity as Professor in International Financial Law George teaches a popular course in Banking Law. He gives his students an introductory reading list which includes titles by authors such as Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn and Naomi Klein. I spotted some of these titles on his bookshelf in his office and so asked for him to send me his list of books (.pdf), which he kindly did.

Considering it is an introductory reading list for a course in Banking Law there are a surprising and refreshing amount of relatively radical titles in the list. I was surprised however that none of my favourite money books were included.

So George, how about adding some (or all!) of these titles to your list?

Money

Thomas Greco. Chelsea Green Pub Co 2001, Paperback, 320 pages, £14.95

You can download a pdf extract of this book here. See also author’s Beyond Money blog, his personal blog and website.

The Future of Money

B.A. Lietaer. Century 2002, Paperback, 384 pages, £10.99

Read an interview with Bernard Lietaer in YES! Magazine’s Summer ‘97 edition all about creating your own money. Also check out some key points from the book

The Little Money Book (Alastair Sawday’s Fragile Earth)

David Boyle. Alastair Sawday Publishing 2003, Paperback, 192 pages, £6.99

A great little book with links to lots of further reading and info.

The Money Changers

David Boyle (Editor). Earthscan Ltd 2002, Hardcover, 274 pages, £20.00

Another great book from David Boyle, associate at the new economics foundation

The Grip of Death

Michael Rowbotham. Jon Carpenter 1998, Paperback, 336 pages, £18.00

Grip of Death is the literal translation of Mortgage. Read the first chapter here

The Ecology of Money

Richard Douthwaite. Green Books 2000, Paperback, 78 pages, £5.00

Read this book online here

Healthy Money Healthy Planet

Deirdre Kent. Craig Potton Publishing 2005, Paperback, 320 pages, £21.95

Read a draft copy and critique of the book here and check out the author’s blog

The Politics of Money

Frances Hutchinson. Pluto Press 2002, Paperback, 256 pages, £18.99

A academic look at money from a marxist/ feminist perspective. Very well written.

A History of Money

Glyn Davies. University of Wales Press 2002, Paperback, 750 pages, £19.99

Check out Glyn’s excellent website on the same topic.

See the American Monetary Institute’s website for more details

See also:

• Money as Debt
• New American Currency

See also:

• Inspiring Land, Money and Media Projects
• Recipe for a New World Order?
• Money
• Money as Debt
• Some of my favourite websites

Last night, when I should’ve been asleep, I watched these video clips and was left totally inspired.

I strongly encourage you to watch them too. Its great stuff!

You should also buy the book:

The Great Turning

Korten. Berrett-Koehler 2006, Hardcover, 402 pages, £16.99

An 2 minute excerpt from David Korten’s (author of “When Corporations Rule the World) inspiring and lavishly-illustrated presentation of his new book “The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community“:

A full-length DVD of this presentation is available at http://www.peakmoment.tv

David Korten on “The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community” at the Veterans for Peace 2006 National Convention in Seattle:

A 2.5 minute mash-up:

The full 30 minute presentation:

More
Peak Moment 48: A 28 minute interview with David Korten. The planet is quickly confronting us with limits to the exploitative, dominator system of the past 5000 years. David Korten implores us to replace dominator-control stories with new stories — affirming life values of cooperation, community and interdependence.

See also:

• The End of Suburbia
• Transition Towns
• What A Way To Go: Life At The End Of Empire
• The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil
• An Introduction to Planet Earth…