For the late great Mike Davis, the ravaging of the climate by capital—and his prescient analysis of its consequences for those of us left to deal with the resulting crises—was always a central part of his urban geography.In these wide ranging, incisive, and hauntingly relevant essays, Davis asks us to consider what we would find if we put a microscope to the ruins of Metropolis, and provides a riveting account of the disasters—natural, man-made, and those (as in the...

**A muckraking history of San Diego that covers the city’s historically recent shift from politically conservative to politically progressive while also outlining a new cast of right-wing villains and tenacious activists fighting for social justice."Behind the luminous veneer of San Diego, there is also a powerful story of radical activism and resistance—vital inspiration for our times.” —Angela Davis**“A left-leaning, fascinating history of San Diego that debunks the notio...

The social critic and Set the Night on Fire co-author tackles the fashion for empires and white men's burdens in this 2007 collection of radical essays.With In Praise of Barbarians, Mike Davis skewers contemporary idols such as Mel Gibson, Niall Ferguson, and Howard Dean; unlocks some secret doors in the Pentagon and the California prison system; visits Star Wars in the Arctic and vigilantes on the border; predicts ethnic cleansing in New ...

Old Gods, New Enigmas is the highly-anticipated book by the best-selling author of City of Quartz and Planet of Slums. Mike Davis spent years working factory jobs and sitting behind the wheel of an eighteen wheeler before his profile as one of the world's leading urbanists emerged with the publication of his sober, if dystopian survey of Los Angeles. Since then, he's developed a reputation not only for his caustic analysis of ecological catastrophe and colonial h...

Histories of the US sixties invariably focus on New York City, but Los Angeles was an epicenter of that decade's political and social earthquake. L.A. was a launchpad for Black Power-where Malcolm X and Angela Davis first came to prominence and the Watts uprising shook the nation-and home to the Chicano walkouts and Moratorium, as well as birthplace of 'Asian America' as a political identity, base of the antiwar movement, and of course, centre of California counterculture.Mike Davi...

A powerful glimpse into the history of disaster in Los Angeles, both real or those imagined in movies and books."If Davis takes a darkling view of the California dream, there is nothing dim or dull about his book. His great strengths are a vigorous prose style . . . a provocative thesis . . . and a dizzying catalog of delicious, and sometimes frightening, facts." — The New York TimesLos Angeles has become a magnet ...

This book provides photographers with the foundation to craft more compelling photos from concept all the way through to creation and distribution, on the path to making a living.Based on real-life practice and experience, former National Geographic and White House visual editor, Mike Davis, takes readers on a journey starting with addressing the motivation behind an image and how this determines the rest of the creative process. He goes on to articulate best technical practices to...

Counterpointing Los Angeles's central role in America's fantasy life - the city has been destroyed no less than 138 times in novels and films since 1909 - with its wanton denial of its own real history, Mike Davis creates a revelatory kaleidoscope of American fact, imagery, and sensibility. Drawing upon a vast array of sources, Ecology of Fear meticulously captures the nation's violent malaise and desperate social unease in an era of climate change and social change. With savagely...

From Coconut Trees To Cults offers a critical examination of the evolution of religion from a skeptical viewpoint, arguing that religious beliefs and practices are primarily human constructs shaped by psychological, social, and environmental factors rather than divine influence. The author explores the cognitive foundation of religion, suggesting that human brains are wired to seek patterns and assign meaning, leading to the emergence of supernatural beliefs as coping mechanisms for uncert...

John is the Dardanian scout who is just finishing up his three-year stint scouting planet Earth. But he has a problem. He has a wife, Diane, and a nine-month-old daughter, Mary, that he must leave behind. Their existence is a major violation of the Scout Code that John lives by, not to mention a confusing set of circumstances that he must deal with internally.The soul of science fiction resides in the world of social commentary, and the report John gives to the Dardanian High Couns...

This book offers practical, affordable process improvement strategies tailored specifically for small businesses. It emphasizes that people are the heart of any successful operation and explains how focusing on value-added activities can transform your business into a lean, agile, and customer-responsive enterprise. Without burdening you with costly or complex systems, this guide states that the "magic potion" to streamline processes, boost efficiency, and drive growth is something called ...

Prisoners of the American Dream is Mike Davis's brilliant exegesis of a persistent and major analytical problem for Marxist historians and political economists: Why has the world's most industrially advanced nation never spawned a mass party of the working class? This series of essays surveys the history of the American bourgeois democratic revolution from its Jacksonian beginnings to the rise of the New Right and the reelection of Ronald Reagan, concluding with some bracing thoug...