Soil and Civilization

HYAMS, Richard

Published by Thames & Hudson, London, 1952

About this Item

Published: 1952. First Edition. DESCRIPTION: Illustrated DJ over green cloth. Illustrated with 4 plates and five maps. Language: English. Book Condition: Very Good: Light wear to corners, edges and spine ends. Clean cloth. Tightly bound with owner inscribed intact endpapers. Minor annotation to front paste down. Clean unmarked pages. DJ Condition: Poor: 3cm square loss to upper rear spine edge. Smaller 2cm loss to upper front spine edge. Wear and chipping to lower edges and fold overs. Unclipped Pages vii, 312. Size: 22cm by 14.5cm. PROVENANCE: John Papworth. JOHN PAPWORTH: Acquired from the estate of John Papworth. John Papworth activist against big government, big business, supermarkets, the media, consumerism advocating the local people should control local affairs. Joined the RAF and served as a cook where he began his political awakening becoming an ardent socialist. Joined the Communist Party but thrown out for not expressing the right views. Papworth became a passionate and vocal peace activist and after one CND demonstration he was imprisoned alongside Bertrand Russell. In the 1960s he became close friends with the Austrian economist Leopold Kohr, originator of the small is beautiful concept and of societies where direct democracy and face-to-face communication were the norm. Papworth was the de facto originator of the concept of localisation. In 1966 he became founding editor of Resurgence, collaborating with Leopold Kohr, E. F. Schumacher and Herbert Read. Soon afterwards, president Kenneth Kaunda offered him a position as his personal assistant in Zambia. Most famously he staged a one-man protests against cars on the Abbey Road zebra crossing and gave shelter to George Blake, the KGBs most famous spy in the UK who had just escaped from prison. In the 1960s he was involved with the Movement for Colonial Freedom, and met Kenneth Kaunda, the first president of Zambia. Kaunda stayed with him in Earls Court, then invited him to Zambia as his personal assistant when he took over control of the country. In Zambia he found God and was ordained in 1975, before being driven out by anti-white thugs. He moved to north London in the 80s, and came to national fame in 1997 after saying that stealing from supermarkets was not sinful. At his house in St Johns Wood Papworth started regular events called Councils for Posterity, where people discussed our legacies to future generations, and which later expanded into larger London venues. Asked what he thinks his legacy will be, as he approaches what must be the end of his life, he said: I think a dispensation to ask questions about fundamental issues, rather than to take things for granted. John Papworth died aged 98 in 2020. Seller Inventory # 10308

Bibliographic Details

Title: Soil and Civilization

Publisher: Thames & Hudson, London

Publication Date: 1952

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good

Dust Jacket Condition: Poor

Edition: 1st Edition.