{"product_id":"the-vanishing-earth-dispatches-from-the-frontiers-of-extraction","title":"The Vanishing Earth: Dispatches from the Frontiers of Extraction","description":"\u003cp\u003eby James Crawford\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBloomsbury Publishing\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e8\/4\/2026, hardcover\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSKU: 9781639733224\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the acclaimed author of \u003ci\u003eThe Edge of the Plain, a\u003c\/i\u003e journey to the ravaged frontiers of extractive industry and the promising, often radical alternatives emerging just as we reach the point of exhausting the earth's natural resources.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOver the last half-century, humanity has taken more from the Earth than in all prior history combined. The planet is littered with the vast scars of extraction - yet, ironically, it is only by confronting the ruins of our 'old' world that we can find the path towards the 'new'. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Vanishing Earth, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJames Crawford, born into a landscape and family steeped in fossil fuels, takes readers to the literal and ideological frontiers of extraction. Beginning with the story of humanity's decoupling from nature, Crawford embarks on an epic journey to five resource landscapes rapidly trending towards exhaustion: landscapes of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003erock, metal, sand, water \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003eand \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003ethought.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e From the salt flats of Chile's Atacama Desert lithium mines to the 'sacrifice zone' of Florida's phosphorus-rich Bone Valley, and even chillingly advanced attempts to harvest personal data from the brain itself, Crawford explores some of the most extreme scenes of the Anthropocene. Along the way, he asks what lies behind our insatiable appetites and explores emerging alternatives that might just spare our vanishing natural resources, transform our economies, and save our relationship with nature itself.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReviews:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\"The best books leave readers with facts they didn't know. The rare ones leave them with ideas they cannot stop testing against experience. Since finishing \u003ci\u003eThe Vanishing Earth\u003c\/i\u003e, it has become difficult to watch a corporate merger, scroll through social media, read about artificial intelligence or hear the language of 'human resources' without wondering whether another form of extraction is taking place. Crawford gives readers a new lens through which to see the modern world. Once you've looked through it, it's surprisingly difficult to look away.\" --Philip Martin, \u003ci\u003eArkansas Democrat Gazette\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\"Beautifully written, surprising and (dare I say it) important, \u003ci\u003eThe Vanishing Earth\u003c\/i\u003e explores the ragged edges and obscure interiors of capitalism's relentlessly expanding territory and asks how we can stop commodifying and consuming everything from sand to our own minds before it really is too late. This book is worth your time and attention.\" -- Adam Welz, author of \u003ci\u003eThe End of Eden\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\"In \u003ci\u003eThe Vanishing Earth\u003c\/i\u003e, James Crawford travels beyond the physical frontiers of a planet consuming itself into the human psyche, where the harvesting of thought, attention, emotions, and neural data represents represents the latest, and most intimate, form of extraction. \u003ci\u003eThe Vanishing Earth\u003c\/i\u003e is urgent and immersive. Crawford asks not just what we are losing but why we can't stop.\" -- Greg Grandin, author of\u003ci\u003e American, Amèrica \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\"[A] sweeping account of the toll the pursuit of endless economic growth has taken on the planet...a dizzying feat of reporting.\" -- \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly (starred review)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\"You will never look at sand, food, phones, or concrete the same way after reading this book. A touching exploration of the dark underbelly of our modern world and how we can move beyond it.\" -- Luke Kemp, author of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/burningbooks.com\/products\/goliaths-curse\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eGoliath's Curse\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\"Urgent, illuminating, and deeply unsettling, \u003ci\u003eThe Vanishing Earth\u003c\/i\u003e forces us to confront a stark question: if the logic of extraction is driving us toward planetary collapse, what kind of society must we build to escape it?\" --Kohei Saito, internationally bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eSlow Down \u003c\/em\u003eand \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/burningbooks.com\/products\/capital-from-zero-reading-marx-in-the-age-of-climate-catastrophe\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eCapital from Zero\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJames Crawford \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003eis an acclaimed historian, publisher and broadcaster. His book \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eFallen Glory \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003ewas selected as a \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eSunday Times \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMust Read, and a Book of the Year by the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew Statesman \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003eand the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eIndependent. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHis latest, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Edge of the Plain: How Borders Make and Break Our World \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003eearned rave reviews in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New York Review of Books \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003eand \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, and was featured on CNN's Amanpour. He lives in Edinburgh.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Burning Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53934823178523,"sku":"Vanishing Earth","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0466\/5121\/files\/9781639733224.jpg?v=1789500444","url":"https:\/\/burningbooks.com\/products\/the-vanishing-earth-dispatches-from-the-frontiers-of-extraction","provider":"Burning Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}