MARIA DUARTE is swept along by the cocky self-belief of a ping-pong hustler in a surprisingly violent drama
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Bleak consequences of a malevolent machine age at the point of collapse
Fabian Scheidler's book pinpoints how the destructive history of militarised states, capital accumulation and ideological power is threatening our future, says JOHN GREEN
‘MEGAMACHINE’ VICTIM: Slum dweller, Jakarta
STEVE ANDREW recommends a lively and often moving guide to once vibrant spaces that have been abandoned or swept away
GEOFF BOTTOMS appreciates the local touch brought to a production of Dickens’s perennial classic
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a production whose design and cartoonish acting overwhelms the close scrutiny of characters
SUSAN DARLINGTON enjoys the raucous familiarity of a traditional topsy-turvy pantomime
RON JACOBS introduces the latest novel by the best writer of US working-class fiction writing today
The End of the Megamachine
By Fabian Scheidler
(Zero Books, £19.99)
SPANNING 5,000 years of history, this magisterial book by Fabian Scheidler explains how and why both our ecosystems and societies are on the brink of collapse.
Scheidler does not provide a chronological history in the traditional sense but looks at the emergence of modern civilisation and the capitalist system from new and unusual perspectives. He does not aim to provide a history of humankind but the story of a specific social system.
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