Beyond the brash modern stereotypes of Essex there exists a landscape that has inspired some of England's finest writing. This book tracks the paths of those literary figures who have ventured into the wilder parts of Essex. Some are illustrious names: Shakespeare, Defoe, John Clare, Joseph Conrad, H. G. Wells, Arthur Ransome. Others may be lesser known but here are well remembered: Samuel Purchas, Sabine Baring-Gould, Margery Allingham, J. A. Baker. In ten chapters James Canton crosses fi...

Dr. James Canton, a renowned futurist, CEO of the Institute for Global Futures, and Fortune 1000 advisor, charts a course to steer you through the volatile changes that lie 5, 10, and 20 years ahead. The Extreme Future is this generation’s Future Shock, Alvin Toffler’s classic book on what’s next and how to prepare for tomorrow.Get ready for fast, radical and complex change. Get ready for the Extreme Future. Our world is constantly buffeted by new and dramatic cha...

'Hearty and hopeful' ALICE VINCENT'Profoundly uplifting' BEN GOLDSMITH'Thoughtful and insightful' NEIL ANSELLWhen James Canton moved to a farm labourer’s cottage, he knew that the two-acre patch of earth behind it held potential as a place for nature to return and flourish. While ‘rewilding’ requires vast landscapes to become self-sustaining, he wondered what might be possible on the scale of his field – or even that ...

A WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2023: NATURE AND TRAVELFor thousands of years, our ancestors held a close connection with the landscapes they lived in. Seeking that lost connection, James Canton takes us on a journey across ancient England: from stone monuments to sacred groves, places of pilgrimage and sites of religious worship.Grounded invites us to step away from our modern world, to rekindle the wonder and awe in the places we live in, to discover ...

Until the 1880s, British travellers to Arabia were for the most part wealthy dilettantes who could fund their travels from private means. With the advent of an Imperial presence in the region, as the British seized power in Egypt, the very nature of travel to the Middle East changed. Suddenly, ordinary men and women found themselves visiting the region as British influence increased. Missionaries, soldiers and spies as well as tourists and explorers started to visit the area, creating an e...

‘Intensely alive to the landscape; its pasts, people and creatures’ Robert MacfarlaneTake a journey into our ancient past. Explore a long-lost landscape and gradually discover the minds, beliefs and cultural practices of those souls who lived on these lands thousands of years before you.Travelling the length and breadth of Britain, James Canton pursues his obsession with the physical traces of the ancient world: stone circles, flint arrowheads, sacred stone...

Some five years ago, I sought solace from the ways of the world by stepping into the embrace of an ancient oak tree . . . From the first meeting, there grew a strange sense of attachment I did not consciously recognise until I later began to realise the significance that trees, and oak trees especially, can have in our lives.’James Canton spent two years sitting with and studying the Honywood Oak. A colossus of a tree, it would have been a sapling when Magna Carta was sign...

Game-changing trends are coming in business, technology, workforce, economy, security, and environment. Climate change, energy demand, and population growth will redefine global risk and power. Exponential new technologies will emerge in digital money, mobile commerce, and big data. An explosive new middle class of over one billion consumers will enter the marketplace. Every nation, job, business, and person will be transformed. To thrive in this future you have to become predictive, adapt...

A forecast of the most important game-changing trends—and how to manage and profit from them to improve your life.We live in a time of complex and radical change. Those that are ill-prepared for the seismic shifts set to occur over the next thirty years will be in for a rough ride.From leading global futurist and advisor James Canton, the acclaimed author of The Extreme Future and Technofutures, comes Future Smart: the essential blueprint on what's coming next. It details t...

‘Intensely alive to the landscape; its pasts, people and creatures’ Robert MacfarlaneTake a journey into our ancient past. Explore a long-lost landscape and gradually discover the minds, beliefs and cultural practices of those souls who lived on these lands thousands of years before you.Travelling the length and breadth of Britain, James Canton pursues his obsession with the physical traces of the ancient world: stone circles, flint arrowheads, sacred stone...

In this manifesto-style book, radical economist and strategist Umair Haque calls for the end of the corrupt business ideals that exemplify business as usual. His passionate vision for "Capitalism 2.0," or "constructive capitalism," is one in which old paradigms of wasteful growth, inefficient competition, and self-destructive ideals are left far behind at this reset moment. According the Haque, the economic crisis was not a market failure or even a financial crisis, but an institutional on...

Praise for David Houle"Houle breaks down big ideas into easily digestible, entertaining small bites…Crack this book open whenever globalization's gotten you down."—Slate.com."The Shift Age lifts us out of the rapids of techno-change and helps us see the course of the river we've been rafting on."-Howard Bloom, author of the GOD PROBLEM and GLOBAL BRAIN"[The Shift Age] is must read for anyone who is interested in where humanity is headed in coming generations. This b...