James Lovelock's bestselling ''The Revenge of Gaia: Why the Earth is Fighting Back - and How we can Still Save Humanity'' is a dire warning against the unchecked growth of civilization. 'Despite all our efforts to retreat sustainably, we may be unable to prevent a global decline into a chaotic world ruled by brutal warlords on a devastated Earth...' For thousands of years, humans have exploited the planet without counting the cost. Now Gaia, the living Earth, is fighting back. As the polar icecaps shrink and the global temperature rises, we approach the point of no return. Sustainable development, Lovelock argues, is no longer possible, and the only open to us may be a 'sustainable retreat'. This is the one book you must read to find out what is happening, how bad it will get - and how we can survive. ''The most important book for decades''. (Andrew Marr). ''The most important book ever to be published on the environmental crisis...Lovelock will go down in history as the scientist who changed our view of the Earth''. (John Gray, ''Independent''). ''Truly terrifying...Lovelock's arguments carry more conviction than anyone else's now writing''. (Peter Forbes, ''Daily Mail'').James Lovelock is the author of more than 200 scientific papers and the originator of the Gaia Hypothesis (now Gaia Theory). He has written several books on the subject, including ''Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth'', ''The Ages of Gaia'' and ''The Vanishing Face of Gaia'' as well as an autobiography, ''Homage to Gaia''. In September 2005 ''Prospect'' magazine named him as one of the world's top 100 global public intellectuals.