Raincoast Books
Available: 08/10/05
6 x 9 · 624 pages
978-1-55192-841-8
CDN $24.95 · pb

Canadian Title

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Greenpeace: The Inside Story

How a Group of Ecologists, Journalists and Visionaries Changed the World

Rex Weyler

Here is the paperback edition of the bestselling, definitive, warts-and-all history of Greenpeace’s early years.

“Ecology? Look it up. You’re involved.” With this slogan, posted guerrilla-style on billboards, the group that would become “Greenpeace” launched its first campaign ... and sparked a mind-shift that has literally changed how we think about the world around us. In the decade from 1969 to 1979, Greenpeace evolved from a loosely organized protest-group in the unlikely setting of Vancouver, Canada, into an international phenomenon that went head-to-head against governments and corporations, attracting the support of ordinary citizens alongside celebrities, politicians, writers, musicians and visionaries.

Greenpeace: The Inside Story is the definitive record of this extraordinary journey, indelibly portrayed by someone who helped make it happen—Pulitzer Prize nominee Rex Weyler. With an historian’s insight and a novelist’s style, Weyler introduces us to the characters and events that shaped an “eco-navy”—from the first voyage into the Pacific to “stop the bomb” to the risky mission to “save the whales” to the struggles with money and ideology that accompanied success.

Greenpeace is a remarkable achievement: a gripping story; a snapshot of the mid-20th-century zeitgeist; a fascinating study of media manipulation; an uncompromising look at the sometimes brutal internal struggles of activist organizations; and above all, an inspiring call-to-arms that deepens our understanding of what it means to be politically engaged. Greenpeace shows why and how the revolution begins … and leads us through the aftermath.

“Weyler’s capacious, affecting history is stirring testimony to the power of committed citizens.” —Booklist (starred review)

“An engaging, brisk and at times emotional read.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) Editor’s Pick

“A rousing story about how a gutsy and mixed-up group of Canadians broke all the rules without once saying ‘sorry.’ ” —Globe and Mail

Rex Weyler (Vancouver) is a co-founder of Greenpeace International. His photographs and environmental essays have appeared in the New York Times, Oceans, Smithsonian, Rolling Stone, New Age Journal and National Geographic.