Praise for the Book - The Bridge at the Edge of the World
Since its publication in 2008, "The Bridge at the Edge of the World" has received plenty of acclaim from the environmental community and beyond. The Washington Post named the book one of the best nature and environment books of 2008, and it was one of the finalists of The Orion Society's Orion Book Award in 2009. Here's what people are saying about "The Bridge at the Edge of the World":
"Speth is a maestro-conducting a mighty chorus of voices from a dozen disciplines all of which are calling for transformative change before it is too late. The result is the most compelling plea we have for changing our lives and our politics. And it is a compelling case indeed."
-Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
"A passionate and incisive call for the environmental movement to deepen its critique and enlarge its politics... The resulting work is nothing short of pathbreaking...This book should strike a resonant chord in a public growing increasingly apprehensive, and merits inclusion in the canon of environmental literature alongside the works of Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, and Gro Harlen Bruntland."
-Paul Raskin, Environment
"Powerful... The writing is deeply humane, witty, uplifting, and modest rather than pretentious... A superb synthesis of the great economic questions of our time."
-Robert Kuttner, The American Prospect
"When a figure as eminent and mainstream as Gus Speth issues a warning this strong and profound, the world should take real notice. This is an eloquent, accurate, and no-holds-barred brief for change large enough to matter."
-Bill McKibben, author, Deep Economy
"If America can be said to have a distinguished elder statesman of environmental policy, Speth is it... He is after bigger game-the Wal-Martization of America, our slavish devotion to an ever-expanding gross domestic product, the utter failure of what [he] disparagingly calls ‘modern capitalism' to create a sustainable world. What is needed, Speth believes, is not simply a tax on greenhouse gas emissions, but ‘a new operating system' for the modern world."
-Orion
"Speth pulls no punches. He offers a sharp, sometimes lacerating critique of the movement he helped establish... [Speth says] ‘the environmental community needs to become a political reform group.' It's a call we're hearing with increasing frequency, but this time it comes from a uniquely authoritative voice."
-Molly Webster, OnEarth Magazine (NRDC)
"[Speth is] one of the most influential actors in the mainstream environmental movement."
-Chelsey Perkins, Utne Reader
"Speth's indictment of the present state of our politics is precise and perceptive... A bold and broad agenda for systemic changes."
-Bioscience
"[This] call for a radical departure for the [environmental] movement's current strategy comes from the ultimate environmental insider."
-The Nation
"With candor, cadence and clarity, Speth presents a compelling case for prompt action, making this book a must-read on the subject."
-Bloomberg News
"For its sources alone, this is a book you might want to keep handy as we did, in the old days, a copy of the desk encyclopedia, this one a rather stark chronicle of the planet's vital signs that [Speth] calls 'looking into the abyss.' It is also an ordered intellectual climb, assembled in the manner of a people's brief, that makes a daring case."
-Oliver Houck, The Environmental Forum
"A bracing critique of the environmental movement."
-Melinda Tuhus, E Magazine
"Destined to change the terms of the discussion."
-Physics and Society
"Speth provides both specifics of what is wrong and a strong argument for change and then suggests some mechanisms to begin to get there."
-Paul R. Cooley, Science Books & Films
"Are these solutions hopelessly idealistic and impossible to achieve? Speth's passionate argument is convincing-it can be done, but it will require a great deal of effort."
-The Futurist
"Speth understands that America's addiction to growth must be challenged, and that we need to learn to recognize what is 'enough'. In recognizing that what environmentalism needs most is the forging of a new consciousness, Speth's book becomes a powerful support to our Network of Spiritual Progressives-indispensable reading!"
-Tikkun
"The Bridge at the End of the World was an epiphany for me... It is an optimistic view of the future... One of the book's most compelling features is that it serves as a guide to key literature; hundreds of citations are included for those of us inclined to explore further the issues raised... I see it as a guide for moving toward cultural, social, and environmental equity that could in turn lead to balanced sustainability in the planet's future... Read this book! I am making sure all my graduate students read my copy."
-John D. Peine, Sustainability: Science, Practice & Policy
"In this magisterial and hopeful book, Speth charts three compelling journeys-his own path from reformer to deep systems analyst, environmentalism's trajectory from inside player to social movement, and the nation's emerging great transition from a way of life rooted in economic scarcity to the discovery of nature's abundance. This is a profound book which deserves our deepest attention."
-Juliet Schor, Professor of Sociology, Boston College, and author of The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don't Need
"A powerful and ambitious attempt to characterize the changed strategies environmental organizations need to adopt to become more effective. This book challenges many things that would seem to have political immunity of a sort ─ among others, corporate capitalism, the environmental movement itself, and the forces of economic globalization."
-Donald Kennedy, Editor-in-Chief, Science
"Gus Speth's critique of unbridled capitalism is riveting and haunting, and his solutions are poetic and inspiring."
-Devra Davis, author of The Secret History of the War on Cancer and When Smoke Ran Like Water
"Gus Speth leads us to the formidable bridge we must cross ─ an epic transformation in how we live, consume and produce ─ to halt capitalism's destructive forces and to improve the human condition. A calm and persuasive guide, Speth is infused with the human optimism always needed for great historic shifts."
-William Greider, author, The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy
"Gus Speth is one of the leaders in trying to steer humanity on a course to sustainability, and this is his most important book to date. Read it, and then take some action."
-Paul R. Ehrlich, author with Anne Ehrlich of The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the Environment
"In The Bridge at the Edge of the World, James Gustave Speth gives us new lenses with which to see what we have done to our environment and, more important, to see what we can do to restore it. He challenges us all to act not for ourselves, but for our children and grandchildren. In particular, he takes on the most powerful guardians of the status quo ─ our mindsets. The bridge he hopes to construct has its bridgehead firmly based in today, because Speth asks us to think about it and then to use our creativity, imagination, and the power of common purpose to act to restore the environment and create a healthier world."
-Honourable Gordon Campbell, Premier, Province of British Columbia
"An extremely important book both for what it says and for who is saying it. The steady transformation of a solid, pragmatic, progressive negotiator into a ‘radical and unrealistic' oracle concerned with the fundamental nature of modern economies is an important event."
-Richard Norgaard, University of California, Berkeley
"What a delight to read Gus Speth's' new book, which no one else could write but all will admire, stunned by his remarkable talents. The book opens vast new opportunities for thought and discussion in science and public affairs and will undoubtedly long stand as the classic that it is."
-George M. Woodwell, Founder, Director Emeritus, and Senior Scientist, Woods Hole Research Center
"One can scarcely choose a more important or timely subject than this one. Speth writes about it with passion and conviction, and a touch of humor."
-J. R. McNeill, Georgetown University
-Peter H. Raven, President, Missouri Botanical Garden