How serious are the threats to our environment? Here is one measure of the problem: if we continue to do exactly what we are doing, with no growth in the human population or the world economy, the world in the latter part of this century will be unfit to live in. Of course human activities are not holding at current levels—they are accelerating, dramatically—and so, too, is the pace of climate disruption, biotic impoverishment, and toxification. In this book Gus Speth, author of Red Sky at Morning and a widely respected environmentalist, begins with the observation that the environmental community has grown in strength and sophistication, but the environment has continued to decline, to the point that we are now at the edge of catastrophe. Speth contends that this situation is a severe indictment of the economic and political system we call modern capitalism. Our vital task is now to change the operating instructions for today's destructive world economy before it is too late. The book is about how to do that.

Presents an analysis of the worsening global environmental crisis, citing ten contributors to environmental deterioration, including affluence, the American culture and its values, population, and poverty.

An in-depth 'over-the-shoulder' look at top-level bridge. While describing almost 200 deals that he played in World and European Championships, one of the world's best players, Boye Brogeland, discusses bidding and cardplay, as well as his approach to the mental side of the game. A fascinating glimpse into the thought processes of a champion bridge player, as well as a look at state-of-the-art bidding methods, some of which are described here for the first time. Boye Brogeland (Norway) has won both the World and European Championships, and is a regular participant in North American tournaments. David Bird, who lives near Southampton, England, has written more than 100 books on the game. Despite spending much of the year travelling, he still finds time to write new stories every month for a host of magazines around the world, usually featuring his best-known characters, the monks of St. Titus Abbey. He is also a regular commentator on BBO broadcasts of top-level competitions.

From the author of the beloved #1 national bestseller Crow Lake comes an exceptional new novel of jealously, rivalry and the dangerous power of obsession. Two brothers, Arthur and Jake Dunn, are the sons of a farmer in the mid-1930s, when life is tough and another world war is looming. Arthur is reticent, solid, dutiful and set to inherit the farm and his father’s character; Jake is younger, attractive, mercurial and dangerous to know – the family misfit. When a beautiful young woman comes into the community, the fragile balance of sibling rivalry tips over the edge. Then there is Ian, the family’s next generation, and far too sure he knows the difference between right and wrong. By now it is the fifties, and the world has changed—a little, but not enough. These two generations in the small town of Struan, Ontario, are tragically interlocked, linked by fate and community but separated by a war which devours its young men—its unimaginable horror reaching right into the heart of this remote corner of an empire. With her astonishing ability to turn the ratchet of tension slowly and delicately, Lawson builds their story to a shocking climax. Taut with apprehension, surprising us with moments of tenderness and humour, The Other Side of the Bridge is a compelling, humane and vividly evoked novel with an irresistible emotional undertow.

“A book that looks at existence with equal measures of fear, humility and gratitude. In a time when novelists tend to be more concerned with psychology than the soul, that makes it a rare and valuable thing.” --Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal From the author of Mr. Eternity, a darkly comic road novel about a millennial couple facing the ultimate question: how to live and love in an age of catastrophe. Young Miami couple Murphy and Eva have almost decided to have a baby when Yahweh, the Old Testament God, appears to Eva and makes an unwelcome demand: He wants her to be his prophet. He also wants her to manage his social media presence. Yahweh sends the two on a wild road trip across the country, making incomprehensible demands and mandating arcane rituals as they go. He gives them a hundred million dollars, but he asks them to use it to build a temple on top of a landfill. He forces them to endure a period of Biblical wandering in the deserts of the southwest. Along the way they are continually mistaken for another couple, a pair of North Carolina society people, and find themselves attending increasingly bizarre events in their names. At odds with their mission but helpless to disobey, Murphy and Eva search their surroundings for signs of a future they can have faith in. Through wry observations about the biggest things--cosmology and theology--and the smallest things--the joys and irritations of daily life--Thier questions the mysterious forces that shape our fates, and wonders how much free will we really have. Equal parts hilarious and poignant, The World Is a Narrow Bridge asks: What kind of hope can we pass on to the next generation in a frightening but beautiful world?

Building bridges across rivers, canyons, straits and sea represents one of man's greatest endeavours. It has stretched human ingenuity, engineering and material technology to their utmost limits. Their creation has been driven by man's desire, from the earliest times, to make lines of communication possible by foot, horse or engine. Bridges have altered history by joining communities together, extending trade and transporting water to villages and cities. Some are of breathtaking beauty and it is little wonder that they rank among the world's most admired structures. As Marcus Binney writes, 'Each one is remarkable in its own way, each a response to a challenge and perhaps the realization of a dream.' This book looks at more than two hundred bridges spanning the world and the centuries. Here you will find, amongst others, an Inca suspension bridge made from grass ropes; the mile-long Roman aqueduct at Caesarea; the bridges of Venice; France's famous Millau Viaduct; the doubledecker, transporter, lift and stilt bridges produced by German precision engineering; Spain's Acueducto del Aguila (glowing in a bright livery of yellow and terracotta red); the awe-inspiring cantilever bridges built by railway engineers across major rivers in North America and India, and the world's longest suspension bridge at Kobe in Japan.

A historical novel set in 1937 Europe tells the story of three Hungarian Jewish brothers bound by history and love, of a marriage tested by disaster, of a Jewish family's struggle against annihilation by the Nazis and of the dangerous power of art in the time of war.