Reviews

Hmm this was alright? I feel like it could be an important book for young people especially to read just to get a perspective of how un-new climate change is, how long the right people have known all they needed to know, and how long they've been doing fuck all about it to make themselves richer. It's a fairly short, gripping and easy read. That said, I was a bit bored most of the time reading it. I'd come to it via having seen a 45 minute Simon Clark YouTube video https://youtu.be/hvGQMZFP9IA based on this book, but discovered that the video basically covered everything in a way that was both more compelling and more concise. So honestly if the blurb of the book appeals to you I'd recommend just watching that video - it's excellent. Probably the bit I enjoyed most about this book was the final concluding passage about the moral dimensions of climate inaction. None of the points were exactly new to me but they were powerfully made.

sdenglerinc's review against another edition

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slow-paced

1.0

I really disliked this book.
It seemed to hold the discussions of middle class white male Americans as most important thing happening.
When the "villain" showed up, there was almost no explanation as to why he behaved the way he did.
The afterword felt more informative than the rest of the book put together.

gracemainwaring's review against another edition

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5.0

Makes a clear and strong case for how the climate crisis has been neglected and procrastinated for decades.

gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

1.0

The Details:
Narrated by Matt Godfrey
Unabridged

Sadly, this wasn't the type of journalistic non-fiction I enjoy.

It had me too frustrated about men in power not doing anything to help our planet and the way it was written wasn't captivating.

emmaryan's review against another edition

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medium-paced

3.0

samdalefox's review against another edition

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informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

I enjoyed it more the further I read. The writing is a nice mix between informal commentary (almost like a memoir) and more traditional reporting style. I was dismayed by the lack of references list and have docked it a star accordingly, however a note on the sources was provided at the end commenting that a good deal of the material was sourced from primary interviews with people mentioned by name in the book. I understand the reasoning for this, but still find it disappointing (and explained by point 3 below). The book covers the preamble and moment when almost all countries around the world (though through a USA-centric lens) came close to uniting on how to tackle climate change through a multilaterial binding legal agreement. By the end my resounding feelings are:

Sadness and anger at the generations before me that had the power to make meaningful change to stop the climate crisis and didn't.
Despair at humanity's continuing inaction (the science has only expanded further to confirm what we already know in the 1970s and added observed further compounding disasters).
Dull recognition at the incredible nepotism, privilege, and old boys' club networks the book describes in the political, NGO, scientific, and journalism professions.
A tiny amount of happiness for aquiring greater knowledge on the history of the climate crisis. I learnt many new things in this book and will certainly keep it for reference. At the moment I am unsure how we can use this knowledge in current praxis, but my gut instinct is that this is useful information to know. I would recomment to climate activists and to climate deniers.

hkjjjk's review against another edition

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informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.0

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