Writer and conservationist Martin Goodman selects from his library some of his favourite and formative reads. His latest book, My Head For A Tree, is out now
Writer and conservationist Martin Goodman has written both fiction and nonfiction about a wide range of topics, from the psychological impact of war to spirituality and pilgrimage. His latest book explores the history of the Bishnoi, a 600-year-old community living in harmony with nature, and how their sustainable practices offer valuable lessons for a world facing an environmental crisis.
Discover some of Martin’s top literary picks below…
The Chipko Movement by Shekhar Pathak (2021)
Pathak travels into the forests and history of the Himalaya, revealing the stories of village activists who shook the world into a new yet ages-old consciousness of trees.
Ice Diaries by Jean McNeil (2018)
McNeil flings herself at the world like a modern Freya Stark, thrilled and terrified at the effects of climate change.
Enjoying this article? Check out our other Writer’s Reads:
- Writer’s Reads: Sara Caputo
- Writer’s reads: Paul Clements
- Writer’s reads: Peter Schwartzstein
- Writer’s reads: Anna Fleming
Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India by William Dalrymple (2009)
A masterclass in travelling through cultures and languages, to temples and charnel grounds to encounter people and their profoundly alternative spiritual lives.
Eating Stone by Ellen Meloy (2006)
A woman enters a wild desert animal’s domain and perspective, in an account of life among the bighorn sheep of Utah’s canyonlands.
Pumpkin Seed Point by Frank Waters (1969)
Waters’ story of his years as a researcher in a Hopi village; a wise, tender, unemotional tale in which he navigates between often dissenting indigenous voices.
Their Heads are Green by Paul Bowles (1963)
The opening pages of Bowles’ essay on the Sahara are my model of writing perfection, leading the reader beyond desert stereotypes into deep communion with landscape.
In the Steps of St Paul by HV Morton (1936)
For years I worked on recreating this book, a project ended by the region’s civil wars. My journey in the steps of Guru Jambhoji through the Bishnoi’s holy land of Rajasthan brought the project to a different landscape.
