July/August 2005 Issue

The Subtitle That Saved Civilization

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Books may not be more interesting these days (or even better written), but a quick spin through their dust jackets makes one thing clear: Their subjects are crucial—crucial—to the very bedrock upon which our civilization rests. Some recent titles:

Oak: The Frame of Civilization by William Bryant Logan

Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky

How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization by Thomas E. Woods Jr.

How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe’s Poorest Nation Created Our World and Everything in It by Arthur Herman

How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill

How the Hungarians Saved Western Civilization by Zoltán Deák

How the Homosexuals Saved Civilization: The True and Heroic
Story of How Gay Men Shaped the Modern World by Cathy Crimmins

The Battle of Salamis: The Naval Encounter That Saved Greece–and Western Civilization by Barry Strauss

PugSpotting: A True History of How Pugs Saved Civilization by Susanne McCaffery-Saville

If you buy a book using a Bookshop link on this page, a small share of the proceeds supports our journalism.

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Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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