The Green Ages

Surprising and fascinating… This wonderfully original and eye-opening study will transform your attitude towards the medieval period * Guardian *With The Green Ages, [Kehnel] has written a book of great joy: an environmental history of many facets, which explains how some pre-modern practices of sustainability are applicable to the present day * Telegraph *A zippy, fresh book that reminds us that history can be a treasure trove - if one looks in the right places and asks the right questions – Peter Frankopan, author of Silk RoadsAn accessible account of medieval advances in economic theory * Times Literary Supplement *It is refreshing to see such a positive argument about what can be learned from premodern ways of living * History Today *Bold and exciting - a must-read – Lyndal Roper, Regius Professor of History, Oriel College, OxfordBold, imaginative and vividly written, here finally is a historical survival guide in our climate crisis that reminds us that it is possible to live differently and sustainably – Frank Trentmann, author * Empire of Things: How We Became a World of Consumers, from the Fifteenth Century to the Twenty-First *A wonderful and much-needed book – Harald Welzer, author and editor * futurzwei magazine *Deeply enthralling, erudite and thought provoking. Kehnel shows us exactly why the study of the past is so relevant for the very immediate future – Annie Gray, author * The Bookshop, the Draper, the Candlestick Maker *A clarion call from the past to guide us through a troubled future … Annette Kehnel’s The Green Ages is a book written from the heart but with a head fully versed in medieval economic life and theory and as such it is a fervent cry to reconsider capitalism assumptions as to how the world should be run and to consider instead how to live more harmoniously and in partnership both with each other, with the seasons and the rhythm of the natural world. There is, Kehnel shows, much to learn from the past and if we want a sustainable future that is where we should first look – Henrietta Leyser, author * Medieval Women *A committed and thought provoking book, rich in engaging examples and surprising alternatives, that makes it clear we need the past for our future – Bernd Schneidmüller, Professor of Medieval History, Heidelberg UniversityThe Green Ages takes the reader through a fascinating journey over several hundred years of history to prove beyond doubt that a different kind of world really is possible. The book shows that human beings are as capable of cooperation and mutualism as they are of competition and individualism - and that reconnecting with these basic human instincts is the key to our survival – Grace Blakeley, author * Vulture Capitalism *Erudite and engaging, The Green Ages presents a powerful critique of the ideologies of the ‘modern age’ by historicizing their guiding image of the human as the self-interested Homo economicus. Excavating times when sharing, recycling, cooperation, and frugality were some of the reigning values in Europe, Kehnel makes a point crucial to any imagination of change: another world is possible. An important book for all students of sustainable futures – Dipesh Chakrabarty, author * The Climate of History in a Planetary Age and One Planet, Many Worlds *[Kehnel] rips holes in the modernist myth of progress… more narratives like this are needed * Library Journal *

Professor Annette Kehnel studied History and Biology at the University of Freiburg, Sommerville College, Oxford and LMU in Munich. She received her doctorate from Trinity College, Dublin and taught at the TU Dresden, where she received her post-doctorate in 2004. Since 2005 she has held a chair in Medieval History at the University of Mannheim.