Author:Dale Vince,John Robb
"Revealing, inspiring and funny. This book is a joy to romp through, which is good, because its final chapter is the important truth we all need to hear and understand if we are to survive this mess we've made" - Chris Packham
"I found Manifesto enthralling, thought-provoking and I learnt so much from it. Nor had I any idea that we had our own Archimedes living in The Cotswolds." - Jilly Cooper
How one maverick entrepreneur took on UK energy... and won.
Dale Vince never intended to start a business. Driven by a passion for sustainability, he left school aged 15 and became a New Age traveller, living for free in a wind-powered double decker bus. But after building his first wind turbine, he realised that to change the world he needed to be on the grid, not off it. In 1996 he founded green energy company Ecotricity based on principles of social, financial and environmental sustainability, and changed the landscape of UK energy forever.
Since then, Dale has been appointed a UN ambassador for climate issues, become the owner of the first ever vegan football club, and amassed a fortune of over £120 million built on sustainability. He has also been a vocal supporter of Extinction Rebellion which, like Ecotricity, is based in Stroud. In this book, he shares his single-minded and uniquely purpose-orientated approach to business, with lessons learned from experience that will speak to any fledgling entrepreneur.
This is the story of a man whose unwavering mission to help save the environment has driven him all the way to the top, and a powerful manifesto for anyone who wants to change the world.
For those of us whose greatest worry in 2023 is not the beautiful orange bird but the wolf at the door, I can't recommend highly enough Money Box (BBC Books, £16.99, Jan 5) by Radio 4's Paul Lewis. Everyone will find something they didn't know in this unexpectedly funny womb-to-tomb guide to looking after your money in Britain today - the laws, the loopholes, the pitfalls, and who to call if it all goes wrong.
—— Iona McLaren , The TelegraphA revealing exploration of the forces that keep us locked in a shallow, commodified and adversarial relationship with time. But it is also a portal to a far richer alternative. To read it is to slip through the bars of our modern temporal prison and experience how freedom might feel
—— Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand WeeksThe rarest kind of intervention: it alters you immediately, and then it lasts ... Saving Time is an inimitable gift
—— Jia Tolentino, author of Trick MirrorA rare book that does more than meet the current moment, it defines it
—— BooklistOdell's journey to find the best way to use our limited time on earth is an eye-opening look at what it really means to be alive
—— TIMEIt is in the gap between present and future, where outcomes are not yet determined, that Jenny Odell enters with her paradigm-destroying new book ... [A] grand, eclectic, wide-ranging work
—— New York TimesStunning ... Odell approaches time in a way I've only seen previously in science fiction [and] this expansiveness, both thematic and formal, is what makes Odell's writing so valuable and unique. ... It is, ultimately, an extraordinarily good thing that Odell's work exists in the world
—— Irish TimesFiercely generous ... invites us to exit the superhighways and explore the scenic detours, byways, rebel camps, the other visions of who we can be while reminding us that slowness can yield more than speed
—— Rebecca Solnit, author of Orwell's RosesOdell has gifted us a way to move through this intertidal moment by reclaiming our more intuitive, felt experience of the passage of time. ... A beautiful, clarifying, and surprisingly reassuring literary triumph
—— Douglas Rushkoff, author of Present ShockSaving Time is about what it means to be on the clock, personally, politically and existentially. The book's writing glows. Reading this book is like being in the company of a particularly thoughtful friend: Odell shows you the truths of the structures you inhabit and then, warmly, attempts to protect you from your own nihilism
—— Alissa Quart, author of BootstrappedFrom the vast sweep of geological time to incremental seasonal changes observed on a single branch in a local park, this potently mysterious book explores the ways in which we might begin to challenge the cramped temporal confines of our modern lives
—— Helen Gordon, author of LandfallBy now a legend thanks to the simple but impactful wisdom of her first book, How to Do Nothing, Jenny Odell furthers her argument for escaping the so-called attention economy. ... This follow-up promises to be as satisfying, optimistic, and enrapturing as Odell's original bestseller
—— ElleAn intriguing look into our attitudes to time ... striking
—— GuardianA scintillating and important meditation on the notion of time
—— Times Literary SupplementA powerful critique of the way we conceive of time in the modern, industrial world ... striking ... Odell calls for a way of living that is less extractive, less dependent on domination, and less about the human self
—— GuardianThe bestselling author of How to Do Nothing ... returns with another urgent examination of modern life
—— i-DA moving and provocative game changer
—— Publishers WeeklyIn a work both magisterial and elliptical, Odell takes on the concept of 'time' from every conceivable angle ... This is both an irresistible big-idea book an a guide to rethinking a burning world
—— LA TimesA penetrating, provocative investigation into the subject of time - how to understand and live with it - on both an individual and societal level ... impressive
—— Shelf AwarenessTemporal structure has its comforts, particularly following a tumultuous three years ... That yo-you effect [of the last few years] drew me to Saving Time, Jenny Odell's sharp book tracing the cultural forces that shape our conception of time
—— Laura Regensdorf, Vanity FairOdell fights to provide us with an alternative way to experience the time we have
—— i PaperAmbitious ... a pleasure to read ... thought-provoking
—— New ScientistA sweeping yet personal challenge to assumptions Western society makes about the relationships between individuals and the finite hours in a given day
—— Time MagazineOdell argues convincingly that our daily experience is dominated by the corporate clock that so many of us contort ourselves to fit inside
—— Irish IndependentThe best beach read of the year ... Read it, and then think deeply about how you are reading your own time
—— The Media LeaderOdell's latest book, Saving Time, is great at analysing where a lot of our notions about how to use our time came from (hint: capitalism).
—— RTE IrelandOne of President Barack Obama's 'Favourite books of 2019'
—— President Barack Obama on How To Do Nothing