When a Billion Chinese Jump: How China Will Save Mankind - or Destroy it - Couverture souple

Watts, Jonathan

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0571239811 ISBN 13 : 9780571239818

Editeur : Faber & Faber, 2010

Synopsis

As a young child, Jonathan Watts believed if everyone in China jumped at the same time, the earth would be shaken off its axis, annihilating mankind. Now, more than thirty years later, as a correspondent for "The Guardian "in Beijing, he has discovered it is not only foolish little boys who dread a planet-shaking leap by the world's most populous nation. "When a Billion Chinese Jump "is a road journey into the future of our species. Traveling from the mountains of Tibet to the deserts of Inner Mongolia via the Silk Road, tiger farms, cancer villages, weather-modifying bases, and eco-cities, Watts chronicles the environmental impact of economic growth with a series of gripping stories from the country on the front line of global development. He talks to nomads and philosophers, entrepreneurs and scientists, rural farmers and urban consumers, examining how individuals are trying to adapt to one of the most spectacular bursts of change in human history, then poses a question that will affect all of our lives: Can China find a new way forward or is this giant nation doomed to magnify the mistakes that have already taken humanity to the brink of disaster?

A propos du livre

Revue de presse

"Fascinating, engaging and beautifully written. A masterpiece" --George Monbiot, author of Heat and The Age of Consent

"Spectacularly important...a shocking eyewitness account of China's environmental meltdown. It should be compulsory reading for all" --Rob Gifford, NPR Shanghai Correspondent, and author of China Road

"With wonderful travelogue-like writing, Watts takes us on an incredible journey through today's China-and our tomorrow" -- Lester R. Brown, President of Earth Policy Institute and author of Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization

"An excellent read. A few good gags in it too, something few writers on China dare ever to try" --Paul French, author of Through the Looking Glass: Foreign Journalists in China from the Opium War to Mao

"I admire Jonathan Watts for his rigorous approach to journalism and his devotion to human stories at the grass roots" --Ma Jun, founder of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs and author of China's Water Crisis

"Fascinating, engaging and beautifully written. A masterpiece" -- George Monbiot, author of Heat and The Age of Consent

A wonderfully readable look at the crucially important topic of environmental degradation and experiments with green technology in China." --Jeffrey Wasserstrom, The China Beat

"With wonderful travelogue-like writing, Watts takes us on an incredible journey through today's China-and our tomorrow" --Lester R. Brown, President of Earth Policy Institute and author of Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization

"Watts bundles the reader into his backpack and sets out.But this is far more than a series of adventure stories...Watts's book should be on the reading list of anyone anxious about the future of this planet" --Jane Macartney, The Times

Présentation de l'éditeur

When a Billion Chinese Jump tells the story of China’s – and the world’s – biggest crisis. With foul air, filthy water, rising temperatures and encroaching deserts, China is already suffering an environmental disaster. Now it faces a stark choice: either accept catastrophe, or make radical changes. Traveling the vast country to witness this environmental challenge, Jonathan Watts moves from mountain paradises to industrial wastelands, examining the responses of those at the top of society to the problems and hopes of those below. At heart his book is not a call for panic, but a demonstration that – even with the crisis so severe, and the political scope so limited – the actions of individuals can make a difference. Consistently attentive to human detail, Watts vividly portrays individual lives in a country all too often viewed from outside as a faceless state. No reader of his book – no consumer in the world – can be unaffected by what he presents.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Faber & Faber
• Date d'édition: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0571239811
• ISBN 13: 9780571239818
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 320