Progress

‘This is a wise book, and hopefully its wisdom will rub off. We need to take the human traits that fixated on ‘more’ and turn them towards ‘better” Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature

‘If you think progress will take us to the promised land, this is a must-read’ Alpa Shah, author of The Incarcerations

‘From debunking creation myths to arguing for a deeper happiness, Progress upturns shibboleths and warns of a potentially dire future. Without new understandings of our past, such as that given here, chaos may be inevitable’ Danny Dorling, author of Inequality and the 1%

‘This book shatters the ideological foundation of liberalism and capitalism… Samuel Miller McDonald could not have chosen a timelier moment to reveal the violent and ecologically catastrophic underbelly of the myth we call “progress.” The rousing implication is that each and every day of our precarious lives on this precious planet must be seized for collective struggle and worldbuilding. The future will not save us’ Thea Riofrancos, author of A Planet to Win

‘Progress explodes the great myth of our time. Spanning cultures, continents and millennia, Samuel Miller McDonald shows how the pursuit of progress has always been a zero-sum game, and dares to imagine something better might be possible. Lucid and wise’ David Farrier, author of Footprints

Samuel Miller McDonald is a geographer focusing on human ecology, theory, and history. He holds a doctorate from Brasenose College, University of Oxford and degrees from Yale University and College of the Atlantic. He has written essays and analysis for The Nation, The Guardian, The New Republic, Current Affairs, Boston Review, and elsewhere, and has contributed interviews to BBC Ideas, VICE News Tonight, and various radio and podcast programs. Progress is his first book.