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alexabarca's review
4.0
I had to read a large portion of this book for a college writing class that focused on Climate Change as its main concentration and not gonna lie, this book was both fantastic and confusing. It's definitely one of the denser and more technical books I have read in this course, but well worth the struggle. Malm provides substantial analysis on climate change and how humans aren't really the source of it, but the capitalistic society (and fossil fuel economy) that our global economy appears to depend on in the status quo.
Probably closer to 4.5 stars, but I personally found one of Malm's shorter essays (not sure if he has a book published on it) called China, Chimney of the World
Probably closer to 4.5 stars, but I personally found one of Malm's shorter essays (not sure if he has a book published on it) called China, Chimney of the World
stevereally's review
5.0
This is brilliant and necessary. Kind of a masterpiece.
Malm analyzes a wealth of facts and details in the historical record, reexamines economic theory in that light, and demonstrates persuasively that ever-increasing use of fossil fuels is a necessary consequence of capitalism (itself not an inherently inevitable and natural economic system but a historically contingent one).
Everyone should want to properly understand why our industrial society has necessarily spewed so much planet-warming carbon into the atmosphere and what our prospects are for halting the problem. This book is crucial for such understanding.
Reading this can at spots be slow and challenging, requiring concentrated attention and consideration, but it's totally worth it.
Malm analyzes a wealth of facts and details in the historical record, reexamines economic theory in that light, and demonstrates persuasively that ever-increasing use of fossil fuels is a necessary consequence of capitalism (itself not an inherently inevitable and natural economic system but a historically contingent one).
Everyone should want to properly understand why our industrial society has necessarily spewed so much planet-warming carbon into the atmosphere and what our prospects are for halting the problem. This book is crucial for such understanding.
Reading this can at spots be slow and challenging, requiring concentrated attention and consideration, but it's totally worth it.
boithorn's review against another edition
4.0
Really stellar analysis. I think the structure is initially off-putting because Malm goes so hard on the history of the adoption of steam (compared to alternatives) in the first half of the book, but it lays the groundwork for his analysis of contemporary problems with capital and climate change. I particularly like how he challenges assumptions on the types of emissions American industry is responsible for (forcing other countries to produce goods and emissions for our consumption) and how a vast centralization of the economy by state is the only thing that can actually address climate change.
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