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Without a shadow of doubt, one of the most important and timely books I have ever read. Kingsnorth has a clarity of thinking, and a readiness to question his own deeply held views which cuts right through here. His backstory matters, this is someone who has done the hard yards, and has come to understand the scale of the challenges we face and our lack of ability to do anything about them. That the current environmental movement is no longer fit for purpose is a crystal clear conclusion which he argues passionately and with huge insight. That he challenges so much that I and other environmentalists have long held dear makes for a difficult read at times. But I can't get away from the degree to which, when laid bare as it is, it's hard not to see that he is... well, just completely right.

Because this book is a collection of essays written over a near 10 year period, Kingsnorth's journey is eloquently laid out. In seeing the mental steps that he takes, it's all the clearer to follow those steps internally and ultimately draw the same conclusions. This is a book borne of despair but steeped in a positive sense of a way forward - I am guarded against using the word "hope" because there is not a lot of hope present - for all the right reasons.

This is a book that will not be for everyone - perhaps for hardly anyone - but for me, at this time, and in the mental places I find myself, this is just about the most compelling argument I could hear. There are few books of the many I have read that I can genuinely say changed my life. I suspect this will be one of them.