Change Crisis

Every few weeks in British politics, a columnist will reach for the word ‘unprecedented’ as a cabinet minister resigns or yet another inquiry is called. We have become so accustomed to turmoil that it is impossible to take a breath and see where we are headed. In this magisterial history, respected broadcaster and journalist Steve Richards puts the recent chaos into context and takes a step back to explore ten critical moments that have shaped modern Britain.

This Too Shall Pass unflinchingly deals with major issues relating to: family, love, work, health and identity. We follow the personal narratives of 20 or so everyday people in their 20s to 80s during their most vulnerable and transformative experiences. We follow Jackson's character-building story of first love; Rachel's difficult return from maternity leave; Maria's mid-life love crisis; Sara's hopeful new life as a refugee and Owen's well-received coming out. These are unforgettable and deeply intimate yet universal stories.

The environmental crisis under way is unique in human history. It is a true existential crisis. Those alive today will decide the fate of humanity. Meanwhile, the leaders of the most powerful state in human history are dedicating themselves with passion to destroying the prospects for organized human life. At the same time, there is a solution at hand, which is the Green New Deal.

Revolutions, droughts, famines, invasions, wars, regicides, government collapses—the calamities of the mid-seventeenth century were unprecedented in both frequency and severity. The effects of what historians call the "General Crisis" extended from England to Japan and from the Russian Empire to sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas.

In this revelatory, unnerving, and ultimately hopeful book, Bremmer details how domestic and international conflicts leave us unprepared for a trio of looming crises—global health emergencies, transformative climate change, and the AI revolution. Today, Americans cannot reach consensus on any significant political issue, and US and Chinese leaders behave as if they’re locked in a new Cold War. We are squandering opportunities to meet the challenges that will soon confront us all.

Great Adaptations is a call to action. It presses home the need for adaptations that are ecologically restorative and socially just. It examines how adaptation is framed, unpicks the contested notion of deep adaptation, explores the potential of transformative adaptation, and questions the legitimacy of the "reassuring stories" that still dominate mainstream climate discourse.

In A Bigger Picture, Vanessa Nakate exposes the shortcomings of our global discussions around climate change, which consistently envisage the environmental crisis as a problem for future generations. Such an image is only possible through the erasure of the voices of people living in the Global South, where environmental disasters are already having a devastating impact on communities, and especially on women. This is one of the great injustices of the climate crisis: those who have contributed the least to its creation are now suffering its consequences most severely.

Grace Under Pressure: Leading Through Change and Crisis focuses on three things leaders need to do when change and adversity strike: take care of their people, take care of themselves, and prepare for the future. And they must do it all with a sense of grace—calmly, collectedly, and compassionately. This book provides a roadmap for leaders seeking to create community as they meet the coming challenges with dignity and grace.

The Future We Choose is a passionate call to arms from former UN Executive Secretary for Climate Change, Christiana Figueres, and Tom Rivett-Carnac, senior political strategist for the Paris Agreement. We are still able to stave off the worst and manage the long-term effects of climate change, but we have to act now. We know what we need to do, and we have everything we need to do it.

A dealer of rare books, Deen is used to a quiet life spent indoors, but as his once-solid beliefs begin to shift, he is forced to set out on an extraordinary journey; one that takes him from India to Los Angeles and Venice via a tangled route through the memories and experiences of those he meets along the way.

Growing up in Iraq, Yasmin Ali regularly experienced power cuts - ironic for a country rich in oil and sunshine. Now as an engineer working in energy, Yasmin has a deep appreciation for what these resources mean for our lives. In Power Up she takes us on a journey across the globe to reveal the bigger picture, from solar panel farms shimmering in the desert to power stations hidden deep in the mountains. We discover where we get energy from, how it is moved and used around the world - and why we need to understand the whole system if we want to transition towards a clean, green future.

The history of the nutmeg is one of conquest and exploitation - of both human life and the natural environment - and the origin of our contemporary climate crisis. Tracing the threats to our future to the discovery of the New World and the sea route to the Indian Ocean, The Nutmeg's Curse argues that the dynamics of climate change are rooted in a centuries-old geopolitical order constructed by Western colonialism. The story of the nutmeg becomes a parable revealing the ways human history has always been entangled with earthly materials.

All We Can Save illuminates the expertise and insights of dozens of diverse women leading on climate in the United States - scientists, journalists, farmers, lawyers, teachers, activists, innovators, wonks, and designers, across generations, geographies, and race - and aims to advance a more representative, nuanced, and solution-oriented public conversation on the climate crisis. These women offer a spectrum of ideas and insights for how we can rapidly, radically reshape society.

In 2006, John Doerr was challenged by his 15-year-old daughter to solve the climate crisis. And for 15 years, that has been his goal. Despite many solutions already being in hand - batteries, electric vehicles, solar and wind power - global warming has continued to worsen as we lack the policy, investment, and global consensus to fully deploy them. We need a clear course of action. Using Objectives and Key Results, the tool that has helped Google and many other start-ups achieve awe-inspiring goals, Doerr presents an action plan to safeguard the planet for generations to come.

Change is inevitable yet feared! How you handle change can define your leadership. Choose to be the leader who embraces change and takes their team to success! In today’s fast-paced and unpredictable landscape, traditional leadership skills are not enough. You have probably already worked on your communication skills, your levels of empathy, and how to handle conflicts within your team…yet there is still something missing. To thrive as a leader in the modern workplace, you will need a unique set of skills that enable you to handle the rapid changes and challenges that are thrown your way.

With global warming projected to rocket past the 1.5°C limit, lifelong activist Andrew Boyd is thrown into a crisis of hope, off on a quest to learn how to live with the "impossible news" of our climate doom.

Leadership is all about others - inspiring them to believe, then enabling that belief to become reality. That's the essence of Leadership U: it starts with U but it's not about U. Those timeless words are timelier than ever today, as leaders look to accelerate through the crisis curve. As author Gary Burnison observes, "There will likely be more change in the next two years than we have seen in the last 20." Now, in Leadership U, Burnison lays out a framework - his Six Degrees of Leadership - to show leaders how to create change.

Water scarcity is the next big climate crisis. Water stress – not just scarcity, but also water-quality issues caused by pollution – is already driving the first waves of climate refugees. Rivers are drying out before they meet the oceans and ancient lakes are disappearing. It’s increasingly clear that human mismanagement of water is dangerously unsustainable, for both ecological and human survival. In The Last Drop, award-winning environmental journalist Tim Smedley meets experts, victims, activists and pioneers to find out how we can mend the water table that our survival depends upon.

In The Insect Crisis, acclaimed journalist Oliver Milman dives into the torrent of recent evidence that suggests this kaleidoscopic group of creatures is suffering the greatest existential crisis in its remarkable 400-million-year history. What is causing the collapse of the insect world?

A dealer of rare books, Deen is used to a quiet life spent indoors, but as his once-solid beliefs begin to shift, he is forced to set out on an extraordinary journey; one that takes him from India to Los Angeles and Venice via a tangled route through the memories and experiences of those he meets along the way.