{"product_id":"going-to-seed","title":"Going To Seed","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eSimon Fairlie is possibly the most influential – and unusual – eco-activist you might not have heard of. \u003cem\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Observer\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eSimon Fairlie is the original hippie. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Idler\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThis is a fascinating, funny and moving record of an extraordinary life lived in extraordinary times. \u003c\/strong\u003eGeorge Monbiot\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eGoing to Seed\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e is the unforgettable firsthand account of how the hippie movement flowered in the late 1960s, appeared spent by the Thatcher-consumed 1980s,\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e yet became the seedbed for progressive reform we now take for granted – and continues to inspire generations of rebels and visionaries.\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt a young age, Simon Fairlie rejected the rat race and embarked on a new trip to find his own path. He dropped out of Cambridge University to hitchhike to Istanbul and bicycle through India. Simon established a commune in France, was arrested multiple times for squatting and civil disobedience, and became a leading figure in protests against the British government’s road building programmes of the 1980s and – later – in legislative battles to help people secure access to land for low impact, sustainable living. Over the course of fifty years, we witness a man’s drive for self-sufficiency, freedom, authenticity and a deep connection to the land.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSimon Fairlie grew up in a middle-class household in leafy middle England. His path had been laid out for him by his father: boarding school, Oxbridge and a career in journalism. But everything changed when Simon’s life ran headfirst into London’s counterculture in the 1960s. He finds Beat poetry, blues music, cannabis and anti–Vietnam War protests – and a powerful lust to be free. Instead of becoming a celebrated Fleet Street journalist like his father, Simon becomes a labourer, a stonemason, a farmer, a scythesman, a magazine editor and a writer of a very different sort. He shares the highs of his experience, alongside the painful costs of his ongoing search for freedom – estrangement from his family, financial insecurity and the loss of friends and lovers to the excesses of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eGoing to Seed \u003c\/em\u003equestions the current trajectory of Western ‘progress’ – explosive consumerism, growing inequality and environmental devastation; it’s for anyone who wonders how we got to such a place. Simon’s story is for anyone who wonders what the world might look like if we began to chart a radically different course.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MediaPlace","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57313359823230,"sku":"NW9781645020615","price":15.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1379\/1261\/files\/9781645020615.jpg?v=1778592288","url":"https:\/\/mediaplace.com\/en-eu\/products\/going-to-seed","provider":"MediaPlace","version":"1.0","type":"link"}