Azby Brown

This is an amazing book that manages to combine two at first disparate things - a popular history survey of Edo (now known as Tokyo) two hundred years ago, and a guide to the principles of sustainable living. Brown has done a brilliant job of bringing to life three sections of Japanese society - farmers, merchants and samurai - with interesting prose, a depth of historical detail, and illustrations and diagrams, many so detailed you could almost use them to build your own buildings or plant up a forest! After each of these sections, Brown uses the lessons from the past and explains how features from then are applicable to a sustainable community now.
If you like reading about sustainability issues (especially relating to communities) this is the book for you. If you are interested in learning about a fascinating period of Japanese history and culture, presented in an interesting manner, this is the book for you. If, like me, you are fascinated with both, make sure you get your hands on a copy of this book so you can savor it and be inspired!… (mehr)