What the books are about

The Last American Man

At the age of 17, Eustace Conway ditched the comforts of his suburban existence to escape to the wild. Away from the crushing disapproval of his father, he lived alone in a teepee in the mountains. Everything he needed he built, grew or killed. He made his clothes from deer he killed and skinned before using their sinew as sewing thread. But he didn’t stop there. He stopped at nothing in pursuit of bigger, bolder challenges. Now, more than 20 years on, Eustace is still in the mountains, residing in a 1,000-acre forest where he teaches survival skills and attempts to instil in people a deeper appreciation of nature. But over time he has had to reconcile his ambitious dreams with the sobering realities of modernity. Told with Elizabeth Gilbert’s trademark wit and spirit, this is a fascinating, intimate portrait of an endlessly complicated man: a visionary, a narcissist, a brilliant but flawed modern hero.

Common Wealth

This is a book about how we should address the great, and interconnected, global challenges of the 21st century. Our task, Sachs argues, is to achieve truly sustainable development, by which he means finding a global course which enables the world to benefit from the spread of prosperity while ensuring that we don’t destroy the eco-systems which keep us alive and our place in nature which helps sustain our values. How do we move forward together, benefitting from our increasing technological mastery, avoiding the terrible dangers of climate change, mass famines, violent conflicts, population explosions in some parts of the world and collapses in others, and world-wide pandemic diseases?

Girls of Riyadh

This book provides an inside peek into a hidden world: four young women navigate the narrow straits between love, desire and Islamic tradition. Every week after Friday prayers, an email circulates among a group of subscribers to a vast online network. The realities of four students from Riyadh’s elite classes, Gamrah, Michelle, Sad-eem and Lamees, are revealed. Living in a society with strict cultural traditions while Sex and the City, dating and sneaking around behind their parents backs consume their lives, they face social, romantic, professional and sexual tribulations. Cultural conflicts underscore the difficulties of being an educated modern female growing up in the 21st century in a culture firmly rooted to an ancient way of life. Girls of Riyadh presents a rare and unforgettable insight into the complicated lives of these Saudi women, whose amazing stories are unfolding in a culture so very different from our own.

In God We Doubt

Throughout the ages believers have been persecuted — usually for believing in the ‘wrong’ God. So have non-believers who have denied the existence of God as superstitious rubbish. Today it is the agnostics who are given a hard time. In this book he takes us along the spiritual road John Humphrys himself has travelled. He was brought up a Christian and prayed every day till his growing doubts finally began to overwhelm his faith. As one of the nation’s most popular and respected broadcasters, he had the rare opportunity in 2006 of challenging leaders of our three main religions to prove to him that God does exist. The Radio Four interviews —Humphrys In Search of God — provoked the biggest response to anything he has done in journalism.

Listen to the Mountains

In the Kumaon region of the Himalayas, the mountains are believed to be Dev Bhoomi — the abode of the gods. In a little village here, under the shadow of Trishul and Nanda Devi, Pamela Chatterjee has found a home,

after decades spent in the big cities of the plains. She lives among the villagers as one of them, sharing their daily lives. Listen to the Mountains blends observations of the

flora and fauna with descriptions of the culture, traditions and rituals of Kumaon, and is enriched by the wonderfully intimate portrayals

of the local people. Adding to the charm of

the book are Catherine Addor-Confino’s brilliant illustrations.