Books like The Long Descent by John Michael Greer


Americans are expressing deep concern about US dependence on petroleum, rising energy prices, and the threat of climate change. Unlike the energy crisis of the 1970s, however, there is a lurking fear that now the times are different and the crisis may not easily be resolved. The Long Descent examines the basis of such fear through three core themes: Industrial society is following the same well-worn path that has led other civilizations into decline, a path involving a much slower and more complex transformation than the sudden catastrophes imagined by so many social critics today. The roots of the crisis lie in the cultural stories that shape the way we understand the world. Since problems cannot be solved with the same thinking that created them, these ways of thinking need to be replaced with others better suited to the needs of our time. It is too late for massive programs for top-down change; the change must come from individuals.
First publish date: 2009
Authors: John Michael Greer
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 0.0 (0 community ratings)

The Long Descent by John Michael Greer

How are these books recommended?

The books recommended for The Long Descent by John Michael Greer are shaped by reader interaction. Votes on how closely books relate, user ratings, and community comments all help refine these recommendations and highlight books readers genuinely find similar in theme, ideas, and overall reading experience.


Have you read any of these books?
Your votes, ratings, and comments help improve recommendations and make it easier for other readers to discover books they’ll enjoy.

Books similar to The Long Descent (9 similar books)

The Sixth Extinction by 4680269|Elizabeth Kolbert book cover

πŸ“˜ The Sixth Extinction

Elizabeth Kolbert explores humanity’s role in today’s mass extinction, weaving science, ecology, and field writing into a compelling account of the planet’s changing biosphere.

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 4.0 (20 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The fourth turning by 6426017|William Strauss book cover

πŸ“˜ The fourth turning

The Fourth Turning presents a cycle‑based framework for understanding American history, positioning the nation in an unraveling phase and forecasting the crisis of the next century.

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 4.3 (3 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The collapse of complex societies by 14207713|Joseph A. Tainter book cover

πŸ“˜ The collapse of complex societies

Joseph A. Tainter examines how complex, post‑hunter‑gatherer societies deteriorate when the costs of managing social, economic, and political organization outpace the benefits they provide.

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 4.0 (2 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Why your world is about to get a whole lot smaller by 6222267|Jeff Rubin book cover

πŸ“˜ Why your world is about to get a whole lot smaller
 by Jeff Rubin

Jeff Rubin explains how falling oil supplies and rising prices will reshape the global economy, reduce long‑distance trade, and force a return to local production, while offering policies and personal actions to harness the coming shift.

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 3.0 (2 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The vanishing face of gaia by 5053752|James Lovelock book cover

πŸ“˜ The vanishing face of gaia

Celebrities drive hybrids, Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize, and supermarkets carry no end of so-called "green" products. And yet the environmental crisis is only getting worse. In Surviving Gaia's Revenge, the eminent scientist James Lovelock argues that the earth is lurching ever closer to a permanent "hot state"β€”and much more quickly than most specialists think. There is nothing humans can do to reverse the process; the planet is simply too overpopulated to halt its own destruction by greenhouse gases. In order to survive, mankind must start preparing now for life on a radically changed planet. The meliorist approach outlined in the Kyoto Treaty must be abandoned in favor of nuclear energy and aggressive agricultural development on the small areas of earth that will remain arable. A reluctant jeremiad from one of the environmental movement's elder statesmen, Surviving Gaia's Revenge offers an essential wake-up call for the human race.

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The wealth of nature by 6669655|John Michael Greer book cover

πŸ“˜ The wealth of nature


β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The ecotechnic future by 6669655|John Michael Greer book cover

πŸ“˜ The ecotechnic future


β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Apocalypse by 7099992|John Michael Greer book cover

πŸ“˜ Apocalypse

"The ancient Egyptians would have known it as the sixth day of Pachon. The Mayans named it 4 Ahau 3 Kankin. To us it is 21 December, 2012. On this day, it is said, the world will come to an end. This is not the first time we've been told that our time is up. And - touch wood - it probably won't be the last. Religious and secular, past and present - Apocalypse covers each and every one of our prophesized dooms: featuring asteroids, Antichrists, solar flares, Singularities, Utopias, UFOs, Zoroastrians and Zapotecs, to mention but a small few. The result is a thorough history of one the most fascinating threads of our cultural existence: spanning from the first warnings of our ancient ancestors, to the contemporary (yet equally glum) forecasts for our future."--Amazon.com.

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Our Renewable Future by 8743904|Richard Heinberg book cover

πŸ“˜ Our Renewable Future


β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Some Other Similar Books

The Collapse of Complex Societies by Joseph Tainter
The Limits to Growth by Donella Meadows, Dennis Meadows, JΓΈrgen Randers
Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change by William R. Catton Jr.
The End of Growth by Jeffrey D. Sachs
Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating Our Climate Tragedy by James Garvey
Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming by Paul Hawken
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond
Energy and the Industrial Revolution by Gordon L. Olson
Resilience and the Future: Concepts, Challenges, and Opportunities by Brian Walker & David Salt
Post-Growth: Life after Capitalism by Tim Jackson
The Limits to Growth by Donella Meadows, JΓΈrgen Randers, Dennis Meadows
Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change by William R. Catton Jr.
The End of Growth: Adapting to Our New Economic Reality by Richard Heinberg
The Hidden Energy Crisis by Gary Schenker
When the Lights Went Out: A History of Blackouts in America by Vaughan Avakian
Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? by Bill McKibben

Have a similar book in mind? Let others know!

Please login to submit books!