Treading Softly

How to imagine and then realize an ecological order based on living within our biophysical means. We are living beyond our means, running up debts both economic and ecological, consuming the planet's resources at rates not remotely sustainable. But it's hard to imagine a different way. How can we live without cheap goods and easy credit? How can we consume without consuming the systems that support life? How can we live well and live within our means? In Treading Softly, Thomas Princen helps us imagine an alternative. We need, he says, a new normal, an ecological order that is actually economical with resources, that embraces limits, that sees sustainable living not as a “lifestyle” but as a long-term connection to fresh, free-flowing water, fertile soil, and healthy food. The goal would be to live well by living well within the capacities of our resources. Princen doesn't offer a quick fix—there's no list of easy ways to save the planet to hang on the refrigerator. He gives us instead a positive, realistic sense of the possible, with an abundance of examples, concepts, and tools for imagining, then realizing, how to live within our biophysical means.

From the mid-19th century to the early Cold War, the United States has a long history with China, and that interaction has not always been positive or productive. This brief history of foreign intervention in China, viewed through the experiences of the United States Marines, examines how the occupying powers dealt with a fellow sovereign nation. In many cases this involved the partition or outright absorption of Chinese territory through naked aggression. Clark contends that, considering the past two centuries, the Chinese have good reason to distrust all foreigners, and he urges the pursuit of a badly needed rapprochement. This is, however, also the story of the evolution of the Marine Corps as a separate service. Although an occupying force, the Marines did make considerable efforts to earn the friendship of the Chinese people. Always on the brink of extinction due to budgetary cuts and the enmity of the army and navy, the Marines managed to perform an onerous and difficult duty in a foreign land. With a resurgent China constantly testing the United States, a fellow Pacific Rim nation, every policymaker should be well aware of the often difficult history that we share and the mistakes that have been made in the past.

Mary Devereux and her father, John, have been appointed to embroider a precious cloak for Walter Raleigh, ready for an invitation to Queen Elizabeth I's court. Each stitch carries Mary's dreams and longings as she gets to know the world of high society. Silently she observes gossip, ambition, dark secrets and high vanity and - on one fateful day - murder. Now Mary is being watched - a dangerous traitor suspects she knows more than she should...

At the age of eighteen, Alice Ware is pretty, charming and impetuous. Back home in Yorkshire at the start of a new century, she is determined to seize any fresh opportunities and experiences that come her way. The arrival of a new neighbour, the elegant and scandalous Mrs Emma Cheevey, leads to visits from her two highly eligible soldier sons. Alice is instantly drawn to Matthew, the younger brother - and then Captain Steven Cheevey arrives home from South Africa, where he was part of the British expeditionary force at the Relief of Mafeking. Alice's choice is made, her future secure . . . until a reckless decision throws the lives of three people into turmoil. Reluctant to return home, she seeks refuge in the one place where she knows she will find peace, perhaps for ever. It will take a visit from the man who loves her to persuade Alice to reconsider and dare to live again.

We were taught nothing about Ireland or its history in school, and when I did learn of the part we played in that struggle, I felt shame. The world should know about young men like Tone and Robert Emmet.”-------Oscar-winning actor COLIN FIRTH (Sunday Times Magazine 2012) AN EPIC NOVEL FROM IRELAND’S PAST (BOOK #1 in THE LIBERTY TRILOGY) The book some critics are calling "THE IRISH 'LES MISERABLES'. And others (Ireland On Sunday) ) "On as grand a scale as Flanagan's THE YEAR OF THE FRENCH" `Beautifully written, meticulously researched, immensely enjoyable and, by turns, heartbreaking and uplifting. Sunday Independent. Set against the background of a country in turmoil, Tread Softly On My Dreams is the passionate and powerful true story of Robert Emmet, a young Protestant who became one of Ireland’s most famous rebels. Robert’s devotion to his dream will change the lives of all those who love him. Sacrifice and tragedy await the courageous Anne Devlin, while romance blossoms between Robert and Sarah Curran. But can love survive amid the turbulent fight for freedom? `Although I started off thinking this would be a love story, an incredible tale of political corruption began to unfold.’ The Irish Times.

A young girl tries to cope with the loss of her parents by inventing an imaginary family.