Rory Spowers Books

Rising Tides is an extensively researched and engagingly written examination of the many factors that have shaped ecological thought. Challenging the basic assumptions of the western world-view, it exposes the fundamental flaws in a political, economic system that believes in unlimited economic growth within a finite world and has confused financial worth with the real wealth of the natural systems which we are all dependent upon. The rift is growing between a powerful elite pushing their policies of globalisation and a world-wide network disillusioned with notions of growth, wealth and progress. Rising Tides suggests ways in which we can all plug into this network - rescue our economic system from manipulation by the corporate elite and help to create the sort of world we want to live in.

BBC journalist and environmentalist Rory Spowers wanted to finally live his dream and abandon life in London for a more ecologically sustainable lifestyle. Moving with his wife and two toddler sons to a 60-acre abandoned tea estate in Sri Lanka, Rory sets out to create a model organic farm there and earn his livelihood from the land. The fascinating story begins with the tsunami and Rory's sudden involvement with the relief efforts, and charts the course of his adventures over 12 months culminating in the launch of his new business (making a living by selling the produce he grows). It chronicles the highs and lows of this radical change, and reveals what it takes to live a sustainable life. It will also include tips for those of you who wish to live a more environmentally friendly life. Spowers' writing in 'Three Men on a Bike', which recounted his story of buying the Goodies' bicycle and riding it across Africa for charity, was compared with Bryson, Palin and Hawks' for his storytelling, humour and intrepid spirit. Spowers' narrative brims with adventure, harrowing moments, and small triumphs as he comes to know the people and the land and works toward creating his dream of a sustainable, model forest garden.