Synopses & Reviews
Visionaries brings together the lives and works of 100 great men and women who offered inspiration, hope and healing.
The 20th century was marked by wars, dictatorships and environmental destruction, yet many individuals kept alive the hope of a sane and sustainable future through their example, ideas and vision. Their influence helped to bring to end colonialism and imperialism, apartheid and authoritarian regimes, and they also helped to foster the resurgence of an ecological, holistic and spiritual vision that increasingly resonates in the world today. Visionaries includes articles about:
world leaders: Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and The Dalai Lama
spiritual figures: Krishnamurti, Desmond Tutu, Thomas Moore, and Thich Nhat Hanh
writers: Wendell Berry, Kahlil Gibran, Aldo Leopold, and Arundhati Roy
scientists: Rachel Carson, Jane Goodall and James Lovelock
educators: Ivan Illich and Rabindranath Tagore
economists: E. F. Schumacher and Muhammad Yunus
ecological activists: Vandana Shiva, Terry Tempest Williams, and Wangari Maathai, among others within each category.About the Author
At the age of nine, Satish Kumar renounced the world and became a wandering Jain monk. Leaving the monkhood when he was eighteen, he joined Vinoba Bhave's campaign for land reform, working to turn Gandhi's vision into reality. He undertook an 8,000 mile pilgrimage, walking from India to America without any money, through deserts, mountains, storms and snow. Since 1973 he has lived in Britain, becoming the guiding light behind a number of ecological, spiritual and educational ventures. Kumar edits Resurgence magazine and directs the program at Schumacher College in Devon, England. Freddie Whitefield is a craftsman and editor.