‎Lord Northbourne‎
‎Looking Back On Progress‎

‎London, Perennial Books, 1970. First edition. Octavo, 223 x 145 mm, 122 pp. Cloth hardcover of a light ocher tone with a beige dust jacket. Summary on the front fly leaf, advertisements for two other Perennial Book titles on the back cover. Mention of First Edition. Table of contents at the beginning, 9 chapters. "Most of us are deeply committed to the cult of change. We believe in the essential beneficence of progress. We deal piecemeal with the frightening range of new problems which increasingly beset our society, but the assumptions underlying the ideology of progress are seldom seriously called in question. It is becoming increasingly urgent that these assumptions should be questioned dispassionately and with a real desire to see the truth. In this book the author does not set out to deal with every aspect of our exceedingly involved situation. Rather he stands back and looks at that situation from various points of view, relating each to his central theme. The penetrating clarity and freshness of the pictures presented to the reader cannot fail to contribute to a better understanding of the ideology of progress, both as to its origins and as to its tendencies in the world of today. In the absence of some such understanding, even the most well intentioned actions are likely to be undertaken in vain." (In-book summary) "Lord Northbourne (1896-1982) was a man of exceptional vision, who already in the 1940s diagnosed in detail the sickness of modern society as stemming from the severance of its organic links with the wholeness of life. A leading figure in the early organic farming movement, his writings profoundly affected such other pioneers as Sir Albert Howard, Rolf Gardiner, Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, and H. J. Massingham. His path led him on to a profound study of comparative religion, traditional metaphysics, and the science of symbols, which he employed in incisive observations on the character of modern society. His later writings exercised considerable influence on his younger contemporaries E. F. Schumacher and Thomas Merton, and in many ways anticipate the essays of Wendell Berry." (Angelico Press)‎

Reference : 0221

‎The dust jacket is slightly stained on the front and features an unchipped label at the back bottom. A corner of the front flyleaf has been cut with no loss to the text. Clean inside, firm binding. A rare copy.‎