Are we on our way to Utopia, or plunging back into the Dark Ages - Andrew Crofts








          My recent book, “James Martin: The Change Agent”, is now available on Kindle as an e-book – a highly suitable format for a text which provides a dramatic view of what the future holds for all of us.

          The story started when I received an urgent invitation to a mysterious private island in Bermuda from an old friend who had recently donated more than £100-million to Oxford University.
          The island gradually revealed its labyrinthine secrets as the host, futurist James Martin, explained the choice that faces us all: to create the greatest Utopia ever, or plunge ourselves back into the Dark Ages, maybe even destroying Homo sapiens completely.
          At the same time he explained how a shy boy from a poor family in Ashby-de-la-Zouche had come to be Oxford University’s biggest ever donor, (bigger even than Sir Thomas Bodley), and the founder of the extraordinary Oxford Martin 21st Century School. He is basically investing in ideas. The School’s many interdisciplinary institutes, and more than a hundred fellows across the collegiate university, are studying potential global catastrophes like climate change, bio-engineering, pandemics, mass migration and the possibility of human extinction before the end of the 21st Century. At the same time they are trying to harvest the incredible opportunities arising from new technologies and innovations, as well as studying social change and striving to improve our understanding of how to deal with systemic risk.
          Along the way Jim has encountered people as varied as Bertrand Russell, and David Bowie, Bill Gates and Lee Kuan Yew. From prime ministers and presidents to cold war spies and business leaders, he has been called in to advise them all and his books have been read by millions.
          "The Change Agent" also reveals the extraordinary secret history of Agar’s Island that he uncovered beneath the rocks and rampant vegetation and tells the story of how he has restored the underground labyrinth to its former glory and turned the entire island into his own eccentric, ecological, private paradise. Above all, however, it is a gripping conversation about the man’s ideas, which are the reason so many millions of people read his books and attend his lectures.

          Find this book here, on Amazon UK.

          And here on Amazon US.  










Comments

CallyPhillips said…
Want this book. Buying this book. The link you forgot is http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B007C2OB18/andrewcroftsg-21
Interesting to me that it was published in pb same day that I published a fiction Brand Loyalty which I suspect covers similar ground. Now... is there any way this can be considered as 'indie' publication in order for me to review it on indieebookreview site?
Either way, thanks for giving me something exciting to look forward to reading Andrew.
Susan Price said…
I'm with Cally! Fascinating! Place your bets now... I think Europe's headed for the dark ages. For the majority, anyway.
Susan Price said…
And it IS independently published, on Kindle. I'm buying it too!
Andrew Crofts said…
Thanks for your kind comments. It was published by a very small independent publisher called Tonto books, so I think we can class it as an Indie.
Dan Holloway said…
Tonto - are they the place up in Newcastle area? If so they're very very cool. He's a fascinating chap even if the 21st Century School has failed to offer me a job on more than one occasion
Andrew Crofts said…
Stuart Wheatman at Tonto is indeed, very cool. I've done two books with him. Out of sheer nosiness, can I ask what jobs you went for at the 21st Century School, Dan? (Or the "Oxford Martin School" as they are now called).
CallyPhillips said…
Not sure it counts as 'indie' according to iebr current criteria... (obviously it's an indie publisher) but iebr focussing on the self-pub aspect... writer needs to retain all rights to work or have some major investment in publishing co like co-op or some-such.... only done this because otherwise we'll be drowned in small independent publishers submitting their authors works (has happened already) as a means of them doing their marketing, which was a bit against the spirit of the thing.... but if anyone can convince me that this book suits our criteria or just 'bends' the rules slightly... I'd love to review it. (I do hate to read a book now without reviewing it)
Dan Holloway said…
He was one of the first people I ever talked to properly on twitter (back in early 2009).

They were only admin posts - I have a very 9-5 low powered day job both because it means I can leave it at the office and because my overly fragile mental health won't permit me to do more. By training I'm a theologian and philosopher and although that was based around 17th century marriage texts the subject is really concepts of identity and intersubjectivity, in particular gender and culture identity in post-communist Europe.
Andrew Crofts said…
Good grief! I am speechless with admiration. I can completely understand the concept of taking unchallenging jobs to leave the brain free to wander. Did my fair share of cinema ticket-ripping and tramping the streets of London jamming plumbers' leaflets through letter boxes. Now lucky enough to be able to use gardening to achieve the same effect.

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