My Head for a Tree

Martin Goodman Profile (2025)

The Bishnoi, a desert people in India’s northwestern state Rajasthan, are the focus of writer Martin Goodman’s intriguing book. Widely regarded as the world’s earliest environmentalists, they live by 29 rules devised in the sixteenth century by their spiritual leader, Jambhoji. In 1730, 363 Bishnoi villagers were executed while hugging local trees by axe-wielding officials sent by the Maharaja of Jodhpur to chop down the forest to build his palace. In their own words, the Bishnoi are the only community “that dies for animals and trees”.

In Search of Green China

Ma Tianjie Polity (2025)

In the 1990s, part of China’s Huai River ignited. This event, caused by flammable pollution produced by food-processing plants and paper mills, triggered a remarkable increase in China’s efforts to clean its rivers and air, and stabilize its carbon emissions. Ma Tianjie, an environmental activist based in Beijing, where he was previously employed by Greenpeace, reveals the story in all its political complexity. However, he emphasizes that his book is “by no means an objective academic analysis of Chinese environmental politics”.

Brain Boost

Barbara J. Sahakian & Christelle Langley Cambridge Univ. Press (2025)

The more London taxi drivers cruise the city, the larger their posterior hippocampus — “a critical area for learning and spatial memory and awareness”. Mental health deteriorates if the brain isn’t kept active, similar to how physical health declines if muscles aren’t used, note clinical neuropsychologist Barbara Sahakian and cognitive neuroscientist Christelle Langley. Their book, aimed at the general reader but supported by many studies, explores healthy behaviours, ranging from exercise and diet to social kindness and mindfulness.

The Moral Circle

Jeff Sebo W. W. Norton (2025)