The Birth of the Anthropocene

The Birth of the Anthropocene is a sweeping and ambitious positioning of our current place in the Earth's long history. . . . Davies' method of periodization carries him through to a new and persuasive way of thinking about the Anthropocene. * Journal of World History * This lucid and well-argued book stands out for the detailed seriousness and scholarship with which, against all the looser appropriations of the term now current, it considers the meaning of 'the Anthropocene'. * Green Letters: Studies in Ecocriticism * Geological knowledge is mixed with political ideas without losing objectivity.... Davies introduces the difficulties of defining geological change, and contextualizes events within a proper time scale. * Conservation Biology * An excellent commentary, which will serve both committed scholars and early undergraduates equally well . . . Davies' most impressive accomplishment in this book is his ability to ease readers into the key contemporary debates. * Journal of Interdisciplinary History * Perhaps the best guide so far to the different senses and timeframes attached to the term [Anthropocene]. * London Review of Books * A modest book of giant ambition... Davies' work takes us on a much deeper dive into the history of the Earth itself. * The Quarterly Review of Biology * Jeremy Davies' concise, erudite and highly-engaging book, The Birth of the Anthropocene, will, I am sure, soon be regarded as one of the best introductions to this new and rapidly evolving field. All [readers] will certainly appreciate Davies' knack for making the complex comprehendible and the daunting manageable. -- Andrew Peterson * World History Connected * Elegant and concise . . . alert to the new relationship that needs to be forged between culture and climate change. * Times Literary Supplement * The first book you would want to read to find out the origins, philosophies, and debate surrounding the 'Anthropocene'. . . . A fascinating tour of natural history. * Capitalism Nature Socialism * I can't recall another book that positions the present global crisis in Earth's deep history so well, in a form that can be readily understood by non-specialists. Every ecosocialist should read it. * Climate and Capitalism * Excellent. -- Robert Macfarlane * The Guardian *