Harmony: A New Way of Looking at Our World [Hardcover]

Charles HRH The Prince Of Wales (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 2, 2010

For the first time, His Royal Highness Charles, the Prince of Wales, shares his views on how mankind’s most pressing modern challenges are rooted in our disharmony with nature. In the vein of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth and Van Jones’ Green Collar Economy, Prince Charles presents the compelling case that solutions to our most dire crises—from climate change to poverty—lie in regaining a balance with the world around us.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

For the first time, HRH The Prince of Wales shares his views on how our most pressing modern challenges—from climate change to poverty—are rooted in mankind's disharmony with nature, presenting a compelling case that the solution lies in our ability to regain a balance with the world around us

With its holistic approach, this provocative and well-reasoned book takes the discussion of sustainability and climate change in a new direction. Prince Charles shows how the solutions to problems like climate change lie not only in technology but in our ability to change the way we view the modern world.

For decades, the Prince of Wales has been studying a wide array of disciplines to understand every aspect of man's impact on the natural world, and in that time he has examined everything from architecture to organic farming to sustainable economics. Now, for the first time, he speaks out about his years of research, presenting a fascinating look at how modern industrialization has led us to a state of disharmony with nature, created climate change, and pushed us to the brink of disaster.

From the rice farms of India to the prairies of America's corn belt, from the temples of Ancient Egypt to the laboratories of industrial designers, Harmony spans the globe to identify the different ways that contemporary life has abandoned the hard-earned practices of our history, a shift that has spurred a host of social problems and accelerated climate change.

Drawing on cases from farming, healthcare, transportation, and design, the Prince of Wales also offers solutions for change, creating a new vision for our world, one that incorporates the traditional wisdom of our past with the modern science of our present to avert catastrophe. In the end, Harmony paints a holistic portrait of what we as a species have lost in the modern age, while outlining the steps we can take to regain the harmony of our ancestors.

Illustrated with lush, four-color photographs and charts, this intelligent, practical, and well-reasoned guide is an indispensable weapon in the battle to save our planet.

About the Author

The Prince of Wales has used his unique position to make a difference throughout the world, establishing numerous charities and public interests, and organizing The Prince's Rainforests Project to combat deforestation and global warming.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harper (November 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061731315
• ISBN-13: 978-0061731310
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #231,846 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 68 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant thinker and visionary November 12, 2010

By Wendy Victor

Format:Hardcover

The author, often maligned and trivialized by the press, shows himself here to be a serious thinker, writer, historian and visionary. I believe he is the best product of the British monarchy to emerge in the past two hundred years.

His book clearly analyzes the root causes of our separation from a state of harmony, and predicts the consequences of this estrangement from the natural world. Widely read himself, he interjects his personal thoughts and opinions into the narrative, thereby creating an informal approach to what could have been a dry text.

I love this book. lt inspires me to do the right thing, to pay attention not only to our built environment but also to keep trying to connect my spirit to my actions.

50 of 58 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Perspectives and Pertinent Thoughts November 2, 2010

By J.C.

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Utterly engrossed from the first page to the last. Did not want to put it down.

Prince Charles is BRILLIANT about nature and the environment and yes, how people act in relationship to that. OH MY. Am so glad that he has written this and it will be available for so many people to discover and enjoy and benefit from.
Finally someone who thinks like me but says it far more eloquently:)

I wish everyone thought like him, we would have such a better world, not just physically, but in terms of understanding and perception and cooperation with Earth. He really sees the connections that are so important to not only surviving but thriving for our ecology and world, in many aspects, from animals to plants to architecture to spirituality.

I can almost forgive him for Camilla reading this book. And if she understood him -- and Diana didn't, for the first time I can see why he wanted to be with Canilla because of her personality, and how she made him feel so good.

His viewpoint is far advanced beyond accepted science and industry's ineffective ways.

Wow.

He is really, really, really wise. I hope this book makes people think, and even more than that, encourages them to adopt some of the ideas he suggest with such good sense behind them.
If Prince William follows in his father's footsteps with this, it would be wonderful as well.

33 of 38 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Insight November 19, 2010

By Kathleen Grone

Format:Hardcover

I am extremely impressed with this book and have a whole new respect for Prince Charles. The man is brilliant and he cares. I think this is a must read for all and would love to see it in the classroom. I completely agree that most of our problems are because we do not live in Harmony with nature. Our world was created by a God who has all the answers, who has given us all the answers within nature, if we would only listen.