Colin Mason was a senator in the Australian Federal Parliament for nine years and served on the Senate Standing Committee for Science and Environment. A well-known former foreign correspondent and broadcaster, he was also a SEATO adviser to the Thai government. Mason is the author of 12 books, including A Short History of Asia and the international best-seller Hostage.

• PART I: IS THERE A CRISIS? * The Drivers * Running Out of Fuel: The Coming Energy Crunch * Population and Poverty * Climate: How Long to Tipping Point? * Is There Enough Food and Water? * One World? * The Fourth Horseman * PART II: DIRECTIONS * Which Way Science? * In the Genes: New Plants - and People? * The Values of the Sea * Multinationals: Good Business or Bad? * The Trouble with Money * PART III: UPGRADING THE INDIVIDUAL * The Pursuit of Happiness * Love, Family and Freedom * Habitat: The Dilemma of the Cities * Making Education Work * Health and Wealth * Religion: The Cement of Society? * PART IV: THE NEW SOCIETY? * The Mechanics of Change * Automation and Employment * Travelling Less? * Working Online * The Information Overload * The Toxic Culture * Running the Show * Getting the World We Want *

'This is a bold, thought-provoking and ultimately rewarding book, well-researched, full of ideas - and thus a good, all-round primer on the state of the planet' BBC Wildlife'An impressive tour of our current world: from sexual slavery to sailing ships, from malaria to microcredits, from nanotechnology to neopaganism, all the horrors and promises of our troubled Zeitgeist seem to be reflected here' Resurgence'Is this a book you can afford to ignore? ... only the foolhardy would surely dare leave it unread on the shelf' International Affairs'Mason, a former Australian senator, writes a narrative that is that is carefully researched and sober, and he actually offers some suggestions as to what to do about it' Steve Poole, Guardian'Here you have a well-informed and realistic analysis and a blueprint for action.' Network Review, The Scientific and Medical Network