Rating: 
Summary: A cohesive work that compels you to act
Review: This book will shock some people who have never really stepped outside of their comfortable man-made environments. Others will debunk the lessons, denying that their carefully-wrought empires could have such an adverse consequence on others and eventually upon themselves. For me, as the chapters unfolded I saw my mind going through a defragmentation, piecing together many bits and pieces of related material from decades past into, at last, a plan. Whether you have an interest in organic food, conservation, human dignity, a more satisfying personal existence, or a glimpse of the future, you will awaken to new directions and new methods as you investigate Thom Hartmann's work. You may race through it in amazement, or savor it slowly and apply it step-by-step to your own role in this world, but you will not walk away unchanged. You will feel both guilt and hope. And you will be compelled to act.
Rating:
Summary: Very readable, very informative.
Review: With lots of detail and resource material, this book really gets to the heart of the problem ... and for once it offers solutions. I picked this one up because it was recommended in "Conversations with God," and I read the whole thing in a few hours, because it reads like fiction. There was juicy stuff here that I'd never seen anywhere before. So I looked it up. He's right. If nothing else, check out the reading list at the back. That alone is worth the price of admission. .
Rating: 
Summary: New, revised paperback for 2001
Review: This Three Rivers Press 2000-2001 paperback edition is the third edition of Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight. For the 1999 Harmony hardcover edition, I added several new chapters. And, over the past year, I've found more details and facts and so it was great to have the opportunity to again update this edition...
Rating:
Summary: One of the most enlightening books I have ever read.
Review: By far one of the most enlightening books I have ever read. This is a book that will show you what the world is really like. At first reading the book I was frightened, but I now realize that the truth is usually uncomfortable. I recommend this book to everyone, especially those who feel that there is something not right about our world today. Order this book. Read it, let it change your life. Then have a friend borrow it and let it change their lives.
Rating:
Summary: The meter is running
Review: Thom Hartmann presents a scenario of ecological, social and economic risk that needs our immediate attention. We've been soiling our nest for far too long and may have reached a point of no return. It's upsetting to think that we haven't done enough to avert the widespread chaos that will surely result when "our" fossil fuel reserves run out. Our failure to realize and act on this situation is largely (according to Hartmann) due to the drugging effect of TV (and other corporate-controlled media) which designs the message that all is well, when actually, the meter is running.
Rating:
Summary: A book both terrifying and hopeful
Review: This book scared the hell out me. This was a surprise, since i have been reading such material since the early 70's and am used to the predictions being offered. Eg, see Theodore Roszak's Where the Wasteland Ends, c.1972, which describes how we managed to ditch the sacred in favour of the rational, and traces the process back to Aristotle. It also looks at destruction of the environment, militarism and lifestyle. What scared me was 2 things: 1. Our rulers and corporations are still at it and show no sign of any significant change in direction. All we get are platitudes, promises of doing something, and then they go back to their usual destructiveness. 2. Time is getting very short. We may have 20 plus years of fossil fuel left, but the economic collapse driven by rising fuel prices looks like coming a lot sooner than that. Despite this Hartman manages to remain hopeful and his appeals for a change in our worldview via meditative practices is entirely appropriate. I go with this, but frankly i think things could really go either way and the next 10 years look like they will be crucial. Quite clearly goverments and trans-national companies are incapable of self-initiated change in this respect. If it comes it will a be a grassroots upswelling on a very large scale. The recent street protests at the WTO conference in Seattle are a hopeful sign. I haven't seen stuff on that scale on our screens since the 70's (except for Indonesia just recently). So maybe it will happen. This book certainly is a major contribution to this change and needs to be absorbed and acted on swiftly.
Rating:
Summary: Revealing
Review: Thom Hartmann's Last Hours is both highly educational and manages to remain mostly positive. His description of the scope and potential impact of our environmental problems are reminiscient of the fate of Native Americans and for virtually all tribal cultures. Somehow, you just know this picture will end badly. Yet, Hartmann holds out hope that humanity will turn away from its "taker" world view. More than most, this book offers several suggestions that would at least make a start. Hartmann argues that if people would only free themselves from television, the spread of consumerism might be halted or even reversed. However, the nearly omnipotent power of visual images in the form of commercial "entertainment" and advertising is likely to keep most everyone enthralled and trapped, wanting to see if O.J. did it or if Hillary will publicly slap Bill. As Gil Scott-Heron said in the first American rap song from the 1970s, "The revolution will not be televised." Because with television, there will be no revolution. It is the mass opiate of our times. Therein lies the challenge.
Rating:
Summary: "Thom Hartmann puts it all together."
Review: "Thom Hartmann is one of those people who puts it all together for us, explaining not only what has seriously gone wrong in the world but, even more important, all that can stil go right. He is an awakener of the highest order."
Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking and uplifting
Review: This book belongs in a category with Ishmael and Small is Beautiful (updated for the 90s). Moving descriptions of the damage done to our earth lead the reader to an examination of their own life and behavior. Unlike many books of the enviromental movement, The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight leaves the reader with optimism and a sense of empowerment.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant book & improvement over the paperback!
Review: Last Hours by Hartmann is one of the most important and brilliant books written in the past 50 years. (Neale Walsch said, "One of the most important books you will ever read." I agree!) And this new hardcover edition is great, because the author has updated the statistics to be 1999 current, has added about 30 pages of new material, and -- wonderful news! -- there is an index! Buy two because you'll want to give one away to a friend: it's that amazing a book (regardless of what the corporate reviewers say)!
| 
