Island Press Fall & Winter 2024 Catalog

Fall 2024

ISLAND PRESS, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978, works to provide the best ideas and information to those seeking to understand and protect the environment and create solutions to its complex problems.

With the help of people like you, we work to ensure that solutions to tough environmental problems reach people who can put them into action. Give a gift today and help us make an impact. Find us at islandpress.org/donate or call Brandi Stanton, VP and Director of Development, at (202) 232-7933 ext. 33.

ISLAND PRESS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

tamika butler

Los Angeles, CA

Ed Chen

Bethesda, MD

Emily Hilton (Emerging Leader Director)

Washington, DC

Rob Griffen (Chair) Washington, DC

Laura Kutnick

Redding Center, CT

Christine McEntee

Arlington, VA

Cover images credit: iStock

David Miller (President)

Washington, DC

Kristen Moy

San Leandro, CA

Eric Rodenbeck

San Francisco, CA

Alison Sant

San Francisco, CA

James Socas

McLean, VA/New York, NY

Sandra E. Taylor

Washington, DC

Deborah Wiley (Secretary & Treasurer)

New York, NY

Sally Yozell

Washington, DC

For more information about Island Press or to place an order, visit www.islandpress.org.

Island Press books can be purchased from independent bookstores and Bookshop.org. Over 500 Island Press titles are available in electronic format through all major e-book retailers, including: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google, Apple, and Kobo.

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In 2013 Island Press launched the Urban Resilience Project with the support of The Kresge Foundation and The JPB Foundation. The project is working to imagine and inspire the sustainable, equitable, resilient cities of the future. Connect with the Urban Resilience

at islandpress.org/urp .

Political Science/Public Policy/Military Policy

August 2024.

Hardcover | $35.00 | 978-1-64283-326-3

E-book | $34.99 | 978-1-64283-327-0

272 pages. | 6 x 9 | 16 illustrations.

Island Press Trade World Exclusive

Sherri Goodman

Threat Multiplier

Climate, Military Leadership, and the Fight for Global Security

An inside look at the US military's journey to becoming a climate and clean energy leader as it confronts climate change—the biggest security risk in global history.

Threat Multiplier takes us onto the battlefield and inside the Pentagon to show how the US military is confronting the biggest security risk in global history: climate change. We learn how the military evolved from an environmental laggard to a climate and clean energy leader. And we discover how a warming world exacerbates every threat–from hurricanes and forest fires to terrorism and power plays by Russia and China. The Pentagon now considers climate in war games, disaster relief planning, international diplomacy, and even the design of its own bases. No one knows the stakes better than Sherri Goodman, the Pentagon's first Chief Environmental Officer, also known as Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environmental Security). In Threat Multiplier , she offers a front row seat to the military's fight for global security, a tale that is as hopeful as it is harrowing.

Of related interest Designing Climate Solutions

Hal Harvey

Sherri Goodman has been a leader in environmental, energy, and climate security since she served as the first Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environmental Security). Today, she is Secretary General of the International Military Council on Climate & Security and a Senior Fellow at the Wilson Center.

She is credited with educating a generation of US military and government officials about the nexus between climate change and national security, using her famous coinage, "threat multiplier," to fundamentally reshape this field.

Author’s residence: Washington, DC

Toms River

Dan Fagin

Peter Schwartzstein

Heat and the Fury

On the Frontlines of Climate Violence

Through rich storytelling and original on-the-ground reporting, The Heat and the Fury offers an unparalleled exploration of climate violence across the globe, vividly depicting the dire human consequences of climate change.

As a journalist on the climate security beat, Peter Schwartzstein has been chased by kidnappers, detained by police, and told, in no uncertain terms, that he was no longer welcome in certain countries. Yet these personal brushes with violence are simply a hint of the conflict simmering in our warming world.

A new dam that has brought Egypt and Ethiopia to the brink of war over water. ISIS recruiters who exploit drought to pad their ranks. Farmers-turned-pirates who can no longer make a living off the land and instead make it off bloody ransoms.

In The Heat and the Fury , Schwartzstein not only puts readers on the frontlines of these conflicts but gives us the context to make sense of seemingly senseless acts. His incisive analysis of geopolitics, unparalleled on-the-ground reporting, and keen sense of human nature offer the clearest picture to date of the violence that threatens us all.

Social Science/Violence in Society October 2024.

Hardcover | $30.00 | 978-1-64283-301-0 E-book | $29.99 | 978-1-64283-302-7

344 pages. | 6 x 9 | 20 black and white photographs and /or illustrations. Island Press Trade North America Only

Peter Schwartzstein is an environmental journalist who reports on water, food security, and particularly the conflict-climate nexus across some thirty countries in the Middle East, Africa, and occasionally further afield. He mostly writes for National Geographic, but his work has also appeared in the New York Times, BBC, Foreign Affairs, and many other outlets. He is a Global Fellow with the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program, a TED fellow, and a fellow at the Center for Climate and Security.

Author’s residence: Athens, Greece

Gaslight

Jonathan Mingle

Barons

Austin Frerick

Business & Economics/Banks & Bankingl October 2024.

Hardcover | $34.00 | 978-1-64283-340-9

E-book | $33.99 | 978-1-64283-341-6 192 pages. | 6 x 9 | Fifteen (15) black-andwhite illustrations, photographs.

Island Press Trade World Exclusive

Oscar Perry Abello

The Banks We Deserve

Reclaiming Community Banking for a Just Economy

Seasoned journalist Oscar Perry Abello highlights the crucial role community banking has in championing and revitalizing communities, offering an accessible and inspiring path for new community banks.

The number of community banks in the US has been steadily declining for decades, giving way to big banks that have little connection to the communities they claim to serve. In The Banks We Deserve , journalist Oscar Perry Abello argues that community banking has a crucial role to play in addressing urgent social challenges, from creating a more racially just economy to preparing for a changing climate.

Abello tells the stories of new community banks–like Adelphi Bank, the first new Black bank in 20 years; or Walden Mutual Bank, the first mutual bank chartered specifically to finance a more sustainable food system. He hopes these stories inspire others to take some of these same daunting-but-not-impossible steps.

For a community or industry that is being ignored by big banks, the idea of starting up a new bank or credit union rarely figures as an option. In The Banks We Deserve , Abello shows advocates, organizers, and innovators that it can be done, that it is being done, and describes a path to support more community banks and credit unions.

Of related interest

Reinventing Food Banks and Pantries

Katie S. Martin

Oscar Perry Abello is a journalist covering alternative economic models and policies across the United States. He is currently the senior economic justice correspondent for Next City, an independent, not-for-profit, online publication covering cities from the lens of social, racial, and environmental justice. His writing has also appeared in Yes! Magazine, City & State New York, Impact Alpha, Shelterforce, and other outlets.

Author’s residence: New York, New York

At the Table

Katherine Miller

Esther Gonstalla

Atlas of a Threatened Planet

150 Infographics to Help Anyone Save the World

Eye-opening and inspiring infographics reveal the complex threats to our planet–and how we can fight to save it.

How does our climate actually work? Should we worry about the global supply of drinking water? And can technology help reverse the damage we've done to the Earth? In Atlas of a Threatened Planet , award-winning book and graphic designer Esther Gonstalla digs into these questions and many more through her attractive and easy-tounderstand infographics.

Gonstalla turns her designer's eye to the most critical threats to our environment, from shrinking glaciers and declining biodiversity to shifting ocean currents. These accessible and fun illustrations will show readers that, although the threats are grave, not all is lost. Changes in technology, infrastructure, and our outlook can still help us protect the places we love.

Atlas of a Threatened Planet will spark your curiosity and invite you to see the Earth in a new way. It is written for all who want to understand the interlocking pieces of our home–and fight for the best ideas and strategies to save it.

Science/Global Warming & Climate Change September 2024.

Paperback | $30.00 | 978-1-64283-386-7

E-book | $29.99 | 978-1-64283-387-4

224 pages. | 8 1/2 x 11

Full color, 150 illustrations.

Island Press Trade World English Exclusive

An award-winning book and infographic designer, Esther Gonstalla is author of the "Our World in 50 Graphics" series and has worked for global NGOs such as Bread for the World, Friends of the Earth Germany, More Democracy, and Fair Oceans. In her books and design projects, Gonstalla translates often-complex scientific reports and statistics into modern and accessible illustrations. From mangrove forests to the Alps and the North Pole, her work introduces readers to fascinating ecosystems and their inhabitants, explains why these places are threatened, and shares ideas for saving them.

Author’s residence: Anglesea, Victoria (Australia)

The Cartoon Introduction to Climate Change, Revised Edition

Yoram Bauman and Grady Klein

Climate Action for Busy People

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Political Science/Political Process/Political Advocacy/Self-Help/Green Lifestyle

November 2024.

Paperback | $32.00 | 978-1-64283-377-5

E-book | $31.99 | 978-1-64283-378-2

328 pages. | 6 x 9 | Five (5) black and white illustrations, photographs.

Island Press Short World Exclusive

Of related interest

Elizabeth Sawin

Multisolving

Creating Systems Change in a Fractured World

An accessible resource offering unique approaches to the world's most complex and intertwined societal issues, presenting a hopeful vision for holistic change.

Multisolving is a simple but powerful idea: using a single investment of time or money to solve many problems simultaneously. In a world that tends to approach complex, deeply intertwined societal issues from siloes, it offers a hopeful vision for holistic change.

This unique resource is for anyone working to fight climate change, reduce hunger, advance social justice, conserve biodiversity, or otherwise make a difference–and who senses all these issues are tied together. It may also be for you: doing the work you know is imperative but that is sometimes overwhelming and often faces opposition from well-heeled interests.

Multisolving can't promise a list of "fifty simple things to make everything OK." It does offer strategies to build solidarity between diverse groups, overcome powerful interests, and create lasting progress that benefits all.

Resilience Thinking

Brian Walker and David Salt; Foreword by Walter V. Reid

Elizabeth Sawin is Founder and Director of the Multisolving Institute and an expert on solutions that address climate change while also improving health, well-being, equity, and economic vitality. She developed the idea of "multisolving" to help people see and create conditions for such win-win-win solutions.

Author’s residence: Hartland, Vermont

Leadership for Sustainability

R. Bruce Hull, David P. Robertson, and Michael Mortimer

Anne Helen Toomey

Science with Impact

How to Engage People, Change Practice, and Influence Policy

An accessible and practical guide for the next generation of scientists looking to expand the impact of their research with a skeptical public.

Will you please just listen to me? If you are a scientist, or a fan of science, have you ever wondered why your fact-based explanation of ground-breaking scientific research falls flat with family, friends, and the general public? Social science communicator Anne Helen Toomey argues that science today faces a public-relations crisis, and she calls for a whole-scale change in how scientists engage with the world.

This practical, how-to guide will help scientists address public distrust, communicate about uncertainty, and engage with policymakers so that science can make a difference. Science with Impact argues that science can–and should–make a meaningful difference in society, and offers hope and guidance to those of us who wish to take the steps to make it so.

Science/Applied Sciences

December 2024.

Paperback | $35.00 | 978-1-64283-328-7 E-book | $34.99 | 978-1-64283-329-4

272 pages. | 6 x 9 | Island Press Short World Exclusive

Anne Helen Toomey is an associate professor of Environmental Studies and Science at Pace University, a visiting scientist at the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History, and the cofounder of Participatory Science Solutions LLC, a social-impact research consulting company. She lives in Sleepy Hollow, New York.

Author’s residence: Sleepy Hollow, NY

Getting to the Heart of Science Communication Faith Kearns

Don't Be Such a Scientist, Second Edition Randy Olson

Architecture/Sustainability & Green Design

December 2024.

Paperback | $40.00 | 978-1-64283-313-3

E-book | $39.99 | 978-1-64283-314-0 244 pages. | 8 x 10 1/2 | 48 black-and-white images and 192 full-color images or figures (diagrams).

Island Press Short World Exclusive

Michael Eliason

Building for People

Designing Livable, Affordable, Low-Carbon Communities

Drawing on ecodistrict models from around the world, architect Michael Eliason inspires professionals to envision and create these vibrant and sustainable communities.

In Building for People, architect and ecodistrict planner Michael Eliason makes the case for low-carbon ecodistricts and presents practical tools for developing these residential and mixed-use communities.

As cities turn brownfields into green fields and look to maximize public investment in transit and infrastructure, ecodistricts are the answer. Eliason shows that this type of affordable, climate-adaptive living option is possible anywhere.

Full-color photos and illustrations show what is possible in ecodistricts through examples around the world. Looking at small districts like Steingau in Kirchheim unter Teck, to massive urban redevelopment like Vienna's Sonnwendviertel and SeestadtAspern as models, Eliason argues that building regulations and planning processes in the US must change to make these livable neighborhoods possible.

Building for People shows professionals involved in regulating, planning, or designing our communities that high-quality, lowcarbon living is within reach.

Michael Eliason is an architect and founder of Larch Lab–part architecture and urbanism studio, part "think and do" tank focusing on research and policy, decarbonized lowenergy buildings, and climate adaptive urbanism. Michael is also a writer, and an award-winning architect specializing in mass timber, social housing, baugruppen (urban cohousing), and ecodistricts. His career has been dedicated to advancing innovation and broadening the discourse on sustainable development, passivhaus, non-market housing, and decarbonized construction. He serves on the board of Seattle's new Passivhaus Social Housing Developer PDA. He is a graduate of Virginia Tech and became a Passivhaus consultant in 2010. His professional experience includes work in both the Pacific Northwest, and Germany. He has been a guest critic and lecturer at several institutions and has presented internationally.

Author’s residence: Seattle, Washington

Soft City

David Sim

Of related interest

People, Planet, Design

Corey Squire

Royal C. Gardner Waters of the United States

POTUS, SCOTUS, WOTUS, and the Politics of a National Resource

An authoritative and unparalleled examination of the policy and legal battles that will shape the future of our nation's water.

In 2023, the Supreme Court made one of its most devastating rulings in environmental history. By narrowing the legal definition of "waters of the United States" (WOTUS), the court opened the floodgates to unregulated pollution. But while tremendously consequential, the decision was also simply the latest in a long series of battles over WOTUS, and which rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, wetlands, and perhaps even farm fields were to be protected by the Clean Water Act of 1972.

Waters of the United States is an unprecedented exploration of this history–and its importance for today's efforts to conserve a critical natural resource. The book offers the detailed analysis necessary for any lawyer or environmental advocate to understand the nuances of water policy, while spinning a compelling narrative for anyone who cares about the future of the nation's water.

Law/Environmental/Political Science/Public Policy/Environmental Policy

December 2024.

Paperback | $45.00 | 978-1-64283-361-4

E-book | $44.99 | 978-1-64283-362-1

352 pages. | 6 x 9

Thirty-five (35) black and white illustrations, photographs, line art, and maps.

Island Press Short World Exclusive

Royal C. Gardner is an internationally recognized expert in wetland law and policy. At Stetson University College of Law, he is director of the Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy and professor of law.

Author’s residence: St Petersburg, Florida

Lawyers, Swamps, and Money

The Law and Policy of Ecosystem Services

J. B. Ruhl, Steven E. Kraft, and Christopher L. Lant

Royal C. Gardner

National

Association of City Transportation Officials, NACTO

Urban Bikeway Design Guide, Third Edition

"The guide will serve as an essential blueprint for safe, active, multi-modal streets." –Gabe Klein, former Chicago Transportation Commissioner

The completely revised and updated third edition of the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide sets a new standard for street design in North America. Developed for cities, by cities, the new guide is more than a permission slip for better street design–it's a prescript ion for safe, connected, equitable bike networks. It captures lessons learned and emerging practices to set a new bar for the design of city streets. Every transportation professional, from design to maintenance and from field staff to executives, needs a copy for their daily work.

Transportation/General/Transportation/ Bicycles

January 2025.

Hardcover | $49.00 | 978-1-64283-384-3

E-book | $48.99 | 978-1-64283-385-0

344 pages. | 8 1/4 x 10 3/4 | 240 full color.

Island Press Short World Exclusive

Of related interest

Urban Street Design Guide

National Association of City Transportation Officials

Transit Street Design Guide

National Association of City Transportation Officials

The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) is an association of 98 major North American cities and transit agencies formed to exchange transportation ideas, insights, and practices and cooperatively approach national transportation issues.

Author’s residence: New York, New York

Shamichael Hallman

Meet Me at the Library

A Place to Foster Social Connection and Promote Democracy

A revealing look at public libraries' unique impact in the social and civic realm and how their innovative and productive programs are creating strong, inclusive communities.

America is facing an epidemic of loneliness and isolation, with troubling effects on our mental and physical health. How do we create spaces for people to come together–to open our minds, understand our differences, and exchange ideas?

Shamichael Hallman argues that the public library may be our best hope for bridging these divides and creating strong, inclusive communities. While public libraries have long been thought of as a place for a select few, increasingly they are playing an essential role in building social cohesion, promoting civic renewal, and advancing the ideals of a healthy democracy. Many are reimagining themselves in new and innovative ways, actively reaching out to the communities they serve.

Meet Me at the Library offers us a revealing look at one of our most important civic institutions and the social and civic impact they must play if we are to heal our divided nation.

Social Science/Human Services/Architecture/ Urban & Land Use Planning February 2025.

Paperback | $24.00 | 978-1-64283-319-5

E-book | $23.99 | 978-1-64283-320-1

224 pages. | 6 x 9 | Twenty (20) black-andwhite illustrations, photographs. Island Press Short World Exclusive

Shamichael Hallman is Director of Civic Health and Economic Opportunity at Urban Libraries Council. Until 2022 he served as the Senior Library Manager of the historic Cossitt Library, part of the Memphis Public Library system, which was dubbed The Nation's Most Innovative Public Library in 2021. In 2021 he co-founded Libraries as Bridges, a collective of library professionals focused on understanding, advancing, and evaluating how libraries build social cohesion, promote civic renewal, and advance the ideals of a healthy American democracy. Prior to joining Memphis Public Libraries, Shamichael worked at the intersection of faith and technology as a minister, technologist, and organizer. He was a Loeb Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 2022-2023.

Author’s residence: Rockville, Maryland

The Community Resilience Reader

Edited by Daniel Lerch

Cities for Life

Jason Corburn

Nature/Animals/Insects & Spiders/Science/ Life Sciences/Zoology/Entomology

Paperback | 978-1-64283-391-1

E-book | $29.99 | 978-1-64283-125-2 296 pages. | 6 x 9 | 19 photos and illustrations.

Island Press Trade Worldwide

Stephen Buchmann

What a Bee Knows

Exploring the Thoughts, Memories, and Personalities of Bees

This fascinating approach to bees shows readers an entirely new perspective–seeing the world through a bee's eyes.

The next time you hear the low buzzing sound of an approaching bee, look closer: the bee has navigated to this particular spot for a reason using a fascinating set of tools. She might be responding to scents on the breeze as her olfactory organs provide a 3D map of an object's location. She might be tracing the route based on her memories of a particular flower or the electrostatic traces left by other bees. What a Bee Knows: Exploring the Thoughts, Memories, and Personalities of Bees invites us to follow bees mysterious pathways and experience their complex and alien world.

Although their brains are incredibly small–just one million neurons compared to humans' 100 billion–bees have remarkable abilities to navigate, learn, communicate, and remember. In What a Bee Knows , entomologist Stephen Buchmann explores a bee's way of seeing the world and introduces& the scientists who make the journey possible. What a Bee Knows will challenge your idea of a bee's place in the world–and perhaps our own.

Of related interest

Protecting Pollinators

Jodi Helmer

Immersion

Abbie G. Landis

Stephen Buchmann is a pollination ecologist specializing in bees and their flowers. Buchmann is an adjunct professor with the departments of Entomology and of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona. A Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, he has published nearly 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers and ten books, including The Reason for Flowers: Their History, Culture, Biology, and How They Change Our Lives, and The Forgotten Pollinators with Gary Paul Nabhan.

Buchmann is a frequent guest on many public media venues including NPR's All Things Considered and Science Friday. Reviews of his books have appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Time and Discover magazines and other national publications. He is an engaging public speaker on topics of flowers, pollinators, and the natural world. His many awards include the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award, and an NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book.

Author’s residence: Tucson, Arizona

Beth Hoffman

Bet the Farm

The Dollars and Sense of Growing Food in America

An agriculture reporter moves to Iowa to run the family farm, learning the harsh financial realities of being a farmer in America today.

"Eloquent and detailed...precise and well-thought-out...Read her book–and listen." –Jane

Smiley, The Washington Post

In her late 40s, Beth Hoffman decided to upend her comfortable life as a professor and journalist to move to her husband's family ranch in Iowa–all for the dream of becoming a farmer. There was just one problem: money. Half of America's two million farms made less than $300 in 2019, and many struggle just to stay afloat.

Bet the Farm chronicles this struggle through Beth's eyes. She must contend with her father-in-law, who is reluctant to hand over control of the land. Growing oats is good for the environment but ends up being very bad for the wallet. And finding somewhere, in the midst of COVID-19, to slaughter grass finished beef is a nightmare.

If Beth can't make it, how can farmers who confront racism, lack access to land, or don't have other jobs to fall back on hack it? Bet the Farm is a first-hand account of the perils of farming today

Social Science/Agriculture & Food (see also POLITICAL SCIENCE/Public Policy/Agriculture & Food Policy)/Social Science/Sociology/ Rural January 2025.

Paperback | 978-1-64283-390-4

E-book | $29.99 | 978-1-64283-160-3 272 pages. | 5 x 8 | 5 figures. Island Press Trade Worldwide

Beth Hoffman is a beginning farmer on almost 530 acres in Iowa. For the last twenty years, she has worked as a journalist covering food and agriculture. Her work has been aired and published on NPR's Morning Edition, The Guardian, The Salt, Latino USA, and the News Hour.

Author’s residence: Lovilia, Iowa

The Farm Bill Dan Imhoff

Grain by Grain Bob Quinn and Liz Carlisle

Now in Paperback

Science/Environmental Science (see also Chemistry/Environmental)/Nature/ Environmental Conservation & Protection January 2025.

Paperback | 978-1-64283-322-5

E-book | $29.99 | 978-1-64283-236-5

256 pages. | 6 x 9 | Island Press Trade Worldwide

Matt

Simon

Poison Like No Other

How Microplastics Corrupted Our Planet and Our Bodies

A Poison Like No Other reveals the emerging health threat of microplastics and how ubiquitous they have become.

"Informed, utterly blindsiding account." –Booklist , starred review

It's falling from the sky and is in the air we breathe. It's in our food, our clothes, and our homes. It's microplastic and it's everywhere–including our own bodies. Scientists are just beginning to discover how these tiny particles threaten health, but the studies are alarming.

A Poison Like No Other is the first book to fully explore this new dimension of the plastic crisis. Matt Simon follows the intrepid scientists who travel to the ends of the earth and the bottom of the ocean to understand the consequences of our dependence on plastic. Unlike other pollutants that are single elements or simple chemical compounds, microplastics represent a cocktail of toxicity linked to diseases ranging from diabetes to cancer.

There is no easy fix, Simon warns. But we will never curb our plastic addiction until we begin to recognize the invisible particles all around us.

Of related interest

Thicker Than Water

Erica Cirino

Matt Simon is a science journalist at Wired magazine, where he covers the environment, biology, and robotics. He’s the author of two previous books, Plight of the Living Dead: What Real-Life Zombies Reveal About Our World–and Ourselves and The Wasp That Brainwashed the Caterpillar: Evolution's Most Unbelievable Solutions to Life's Biggest Problems. He enjoys long walks on the beach and trying not to think about all the microplastics there.

Author’s residence: San Francisco, California

A New War on Cancer

Kristina Marusic