I make no secret about it – there’s a lot I like about Canada, and this includes their publishing houses. One in particular that has been impressing me over the past few years is Vancouver, British Columbia’s Greystone Books. Specializing in the publication of non-fiction works in the areas of “nature and the environment, travel and adventure, sports, social issues, science, and health, as well as books that are exceptional literary expressions of personal passions,” Greystone has been rising steadily in visibility among those seeking fresh and interesting works in these subject areas. Not surprisingly, it is the first category on this list that originally brought them to, and ever since has firmly held them in, my attention.
Over the past few years, they’ve been doing exceptional work in bringing works of German natural history writing into English translation. Many of you will likely have already read their editions of Peter Wohlleben‘s lyrical and perspective-expanding “The Mysteries of Nature” trilogy: The Hidden Life of Trees, The Inner Life of Animals, and The Secret Wisdom of Nature – all superbly translated from the German by Jane Billinghurst. And with the publication of their new Autumn / Winter 2020 list, this work is clearly continuing.
Recently, an advance reader’s copy of Dr. Friederike Otto‘s Angry Weather; Heat Waves, Floods, Storms, and the New Science of Climate Change reached my desk. An English language translation by Sarah Pybus of Dr. Otto’s 2019 book Wütendes Wetter; Auf der Suche nach den Schuldigen für Hitzewellen, Hochwasser und Stürme, written with Benjamin von Brackel and published by Ullstein Buchverlage GmbH, it joins the expanding collection of works translated from the German as published by Greystone, and as such is in very good company indeed.
In her book, Dr. Otto, the acting director of the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, and Associate Professor in the Global Climate Science Programme, applies attribution science to recent significant weather events – with the narrative centered upon Hurricane Harvey – to determine if anthropogenic elements can be demonstrated in their causes.
I’m very much looking forward to discovering more about Dr. Otto’s idea and discoveries. If the editorial judgement of Greystone as demonstrated by their previous selections for works to publish in translation is anything to go by, I expect to be very pleased indeed with what I shall find in this new book from them.
Angry Weather is expected to be published in September 2020, and can be pre-ordered now.
