Green Ideas

21 books in this series
Book cover of Uncanny and Improbable Events by Amitav Ghosh

Uncanny and Improbable Events

Over the past 75 years, a new canon has emerged. As humans have driven the living planet to the brink of collapse, visionary thinkers around the world have raised their voices to defend it. Their words have endured, becoming the classics that define the environmental movement today.

In this personal and wide-ranging exploration of how our collective imaginations fail to grasp the scale of environmental destruction, Amitav Ghosh summons writers and novelists to confront the most urgent story of our times.
Book cover of A Warning from the Golden Toad by Tim Flannery

A Warning from the Golden Toad

Taking us on an extraordinary journey into the past and around the globe, from coral reefs to the North Pole, deserts to rainforests, Tim Flannery tells the story of the earth's climate, and how we have changed it.
Book cover of We Belong to Gaia by James Lovelock

We Belong to Gaia

In twenty short books, Penguin brings you the classics of the environmental movement.

James Lovelock's We Belong to Gaia draws on decades of wisdom to lay out the history of our remarkable planet, to show that it is not ours to be exploited - and warns us that it is fighting back.


Over the past 75 years, a new canon has emerged. As life on Earth has become irrevocably altered by humans, visionary thinkers around the world have raised their voices to defend the planet, and affirm our place at the heart of its restoration. Their words have endured through the decades, becoming the classics of a movement. Together, these books show the richness of environmental thought, and point the way to a fairer, saner, greener world.
Book cover of What I Stand for Is What I Stand On by Wendell Berry

What I Stand for Is What I Stand On

Over the past 75 years, a new canon has emerged. As humans have driven the living planet to the brink of collapse, visionary thinkers around the world have raised their voices to defend it. Their words have endured, becoming the classics that define the environmental movement today.

From the ravages of the global economy to the great pleasures of growing a garden, these powerful essays represent a heartfelt call for humankind to mend our broken relationship with the earth, and with each other.
Book cover of The World We Once Lived In by Wangari Maathai

The World We Once Lived In

Over the past 75 years, a new canon has emerged. As humans have driven the living planet to the brink of collapse, visionary thinkers around the world have raised their voices to defend it. Their words have endured, becoming the classics that define the environmental movement today.

From the Congo Basin to the traditions of the Kikuyu people, these lucid, incisive writings explore the sacred power of trees, and why humans lay waste to the forests that keep us alive.