Most Popular Books by Marq de Villiers

WINNER OF THE GOVERNOR GENERAL''S LITERARY AWARD FOR NON-FICTION A brilliant and disturbing look at the most crucial ecological issue of the new century—now thoroughly revised and updated. Water—where it is, who owns it, how much we’ll need, and how to make sure we’ll have it—is quickly emerging as one of the most important ecological issues of the new century. First published in 1999, Water, Marq de Villiers’s brilliant look at the condition of water resources around the world, won a Governor General’s Literary Award and earned glowing praise from such respected figures as Maurice Strong, formerly of the Earth Council. In compelling and lucid prose, de Villiers describes the grim situations in arid regions—in the southwestern United States, southern Africa, Mexico, Egypt, Israel, India, and Asia—and makes it clear just how serious the ramifications can be. He outlines how water is being manipulated by technology, used as a political bargaining chip, or imperilled by ignorance—and what this could mean to us in the future and how it could shape the way we live. This new edition—completely updated—of what has become a standard book on a crucial subject makes for vitally important reading.

Presents the story of Sable Island, an island adrift in the North Atlantic, tracing its history and topology from its probable origins in glacial times to its fate at the mercy of the continental shelf and North Atlantic currents. Reprint. 17,500 first printing.

The first book for general readers about the storied past of one of the world’s most fabled cities. Timbuktu — the name still evokes an exotic, faraway place, even though the city’s glory days are long gone. Unspooling its history and legends, resolving myth with reality, Marq de Villiers and Sheila Hirtle have captured the splendour and decay of one of humankind’s treasures. Founded in the early 1100s by Tuareg nomads who called their camp “Tin Buktu,” it became, within two centuries, a wealthy metropolis and a nexus of the trans-Saharan trade. Salt from the deep Sahara, gold from Ghana, and money from slave markets made it rich. In part because of its wealth, Timbuktu also became a centre of Islamic learning and religion, boasting impressive schools and libraries that attracted scholars from Alexandria, Baghdad, Mecca, and Marrakech. The arts flourished, and Timbuktu gained near-mythic stature around the world, capturing the imagination of outsiders and ultimately attracting the attention of hostile sovereigns who sacked the city three times and plundered it half a dozen more. The ancient city was invaded by a Moroccan army in 1600, beginning its long decline; since then, it has been seized by Tuareg nomads and a variety of jihadists, in addition to enduring a terrible earthquake, several epidemics, and numerous famines. Perhaps no other city in the world has been as golden — and as deeply tarnished — as Timbuktu. Using sources dating deep into Timbuktu’s fabled past, alongside interviews with Tuareg nomads and city residents and officials today, de Villiers and Hirtle have produced a spectacular portrait that brings the city back to life.

What is the fate of the world as we know it? Tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, pandemics, cosmic radiation, gamma bursts from space, colliding comets, and asteroids—these things used to worry us from time to time, but now they have become the background noise of our culture. Are natural calamities indeed more probable, and more frequent, than they were? Are things getting worse? Are the boundaries between natural and human-caused calamities blurring? Are we part of the problem? If so, what can we do about it? In The End, award-winning writer Marq de Villiers examines these questions at a time when there is an urgent need to understand the perils that confront us, to act in such a way as best we can for the inevitable disasters when they come. We can do nothing about some natural calamities, but about others we can do a great deal. De Villiers helps us understand which is which, and lays out some provocative ideas for mitigating the damage all such calamities can inflict on us and our world. The End is a brilliant and challenging look at what lies ahead, and at what we can do to influence our future.

Global warming, energy shortages, overpopulation — it''s no wonder that as a society, we''re in an apocalyptic mood. Out of an endless stream of gloomy prognoses for humanity''s future, we have emerged with little inspiration and few concrete ideas for change. Our Way Out is the first time that our most urgent global challenges have been treated as aspects of a single, larger crisis — and the first to acknowledge that while crises reinforce each other, solutions enable each other. The transformation to sustainability is already happening, in many small ways, in many parts of the world. Our Way Out shows us how we can scale up these efforts to create meaningful and lasting change. This is not a book on climate change, energy, or any other single issue — it is the story of how within the solutions to the global crises we face, lie the seeds of something greater. It is a handbook for immense and exciting worldwide change. And, not least of all, it offers us robust hope that we can make things better.

Examines the dramatic impact on Earth of the wind, describing how it controls the weather and planet environment, shaped the landscape, and transformed human civilization, and explores humankind''s long struggle to understand and control wind and weather. Reprint.

De Villiers takes readers deep into the heart of Canadian maritime history, giving new life to the long-standing legend of the magnificent Bluenose.

Tsunami, earthquake, hurricane, pandemic—are these and other natural calamities more probable, and more frequent, than they were? Are things getting worse? De Villiers examines these questions in a time when we truly need to understand the dangers ahead and how to act in such a way that we''re preparing for the inevitable and not making things worse.

The English longbow, made of rare yew wood, unmatched for accuracy, speed of fire, and deadliness, shifted Europe''s balance of power in the Middle Ages. Schooners, those "able handsome ladies" of the sea, inaugurated a new era of global trade, carrying high-value cargoes of tea and spice to Europe and America with unmatched speed and reliability. The violin, individual examples of which have personalities and histories as brilliant as the performers who play them, brought Western music to the pinnacle of expressiveness. These three iconic artifacts exemplify the inventive ways human ingenuity has employed wood - one of our most extraordinary natural substances - to change its culture and history. In this sweeping and beautifully-written history, award-winning author Marq de Villiers explores our relationship with wood, from ancient times to the present, from the forest to the workshop. Wood, he writes, has always been an essential companion to human development, and its most remarkable applications may still be ahead.

A rich and fascinating biography of the world''s largest desert - its history, peoples, traditions, climate, creatures; its tastes, sights and sounds.

A good basic book for those who want insight into Africa''s complex civilization. Highly recommended by reviewer.

Author combines travel writing with history and folklore as he travels along the Volga River in the heart of modern Russia.

Sable Island lies off Canada’s Nova Scotian coast. A shape-shifting ghost of an island, it is in fact more a sandbar, adrift in the Atlantic, wandering to the east or west with the storms that so frequently batter it – but somehow never tipping over the nearby Continental Shelf. The bane of sailors for many generations, it declines to stay exactly where it is on the sea charts, and is so low that it can often not be seen until an unfortunate ship is almost in its clutches. As a result, its beaches have been littered over the years by hundreds of shipwrecks. These have attracted both the notorious “wreckers,” who scavenged for whatever they could “salvage,” and were suspected of occasionally doing away with any witnesses who had the temerity to survive, and the employees of the Humane Establishment, set up for the rescue of shipwreck victims. Anchored roughly by tough vegetation, surprisingly supplied with fresh water in the middle of salt, inhabited by hardy wild horses descended from Acadian ponies left on the island in 1756, Sable is an amazing place, and the authors have done it justice in this engaging and often lyrical book.