The Retreat of the Elephants: An Environmental History of China

6 best books like The Retreat of the Elephants: An Environmental History of China (Mark Elvin): Silent Spring, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power, October: The Story of the Russian Revolution, How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States, Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900 (Studies in Environment and History), Empire of Cotton: A Global History

Silent Spring

Author	Rachel Carson
ISBN	0618249060

Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was first published in three serialized excerpts in the New Yorker in June of 1962. The book appeared in September of that year and the outcry that followed its publication forced the banning of DDT and spurred revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land,...

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power

Author	Shoshana Zuboff
ISBN	1610395697

The challenges to humanity posed by the digital future, the first detailed examination of the unprecedented form of power called "surveillance capitalism," and the quest by powerful corporations to predict and control our behavior.

In this masterwork of original thinking and research,...

October: The Story of the Russian Revolution

Author	China Miéville
ISBN	1784782777

In February 1917, in the midst of bloody war, Russia was still an autocratic monarchy: nine months later, it became the first socialist state in world history. How did this unimaginable transformation take place? How was a ravaged and backward country, swept up in a desperately unpopular war, rocked...

How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States

Author	Daniel Immerwahr
ISBN	0374172145

A pathbreaking history of the United States' overseas possessions and the true meaning of its empire

We are familiar with maps that outline all fifty states. And we are also familiar with the idea that the United States is an "empire," exercising power around the world. But what about the actual...

Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900 (Studies in Environment and History)

Author	Alfred W. Crosby
ISBN	0521546184

People of European descent form the bulk of the population in most of the temperate zones of the world--North America, Australia and New Zealand. The military successes of European imperialism are easy to explain because in many cases they were achieved by using firearms against spears. Alfred Crosby,...

Empire of Cotton: A Global History

Author	Sven Beckert
ISBN	0375414142

The epic story of the rise and fall of the empire of cotton, its centrality to the world economy, and its making and remaking of global capitalism.

Cotton is so ubiquitous as to be almost invisible, yet understanding its history is key to understanding the origins of modern capitalism. Sven...