Falter

A powerful call to arms from an eminent environmentalist

Thirty years ago, environmentalist Bill McKibben’s bestselling The End of Nature — long regarded as a classic — was the first book to alert us to global warming. Now, in Falter, he suggests that the human game may have begun to play itself out. Climate change, robotics and artificial intelligence may spell the end of humanity as we know it. Unless we act now.

Falter tells the story of these converging trends and of the ideological fervour that keeps us from bringing them under control. Drawing on McKibben’s experience in building 350.org, the first global citizens’ movement to combat climate change, it offers some ways out of the trap. We’re at a bleak moment in human history, and we must face the reality or watch the civilisation our forebears built slip away.

This is an inspiring and clearheaded guide to saving not only our planet but also our humanity.

‘A love letter, a plea, a eulogy and a prayer. This is Bill McKibben at his glorious best. Wise and warning, with everything on the line. Do not miss it.’ —Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine

‘No one has done more than Bill McKibben to raise awareness about the great issues of our time. Falter is an essential book―honest, far-reaching and, against the odds, hopeful.’ —Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Sixth Extinction

‘I braced myself to plunge into this book about the largest and grimmest of situations our species has faced, and then I found myself racing through it, excited by the grand synthesis of innumerable scientific reports on the details of the crisis. And then at the end I saw the book as a description of a big trap with a small exit we could take, if we take heed of what Bill McKibben tells us here, and act on it.’ —Rebecca Solnit, author of A Field Guide to Getting Lost

‘It’s not an exaggeration to say that Bill McKibben has written a book so important, reading it might save your life, not to mention your home: Planet Earth. Falter is a brilliant, impassioned call to arms to save our climate from those profiting from its destruction before it’s too late. Over and over, McKibben has proven one of the most farsighted and gifted voices of our times, and with Falter he has topped himself, producing a book that, honestly, everyone should read.’ —Jane Mayer, bestselling author of Dark Money

‘The most effective environmental activist of our age. Anyone interested in making a difference can learn from McKibben.’ —Tim Flannery

‘McKibben is the world’s best green journalist.’ —Time

‘Probably the country’s most important environmentalist.’ —The Boston Globe