Author Sunil Amrith "The Burning Earth"

Please join Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures as they welcome Sunil Amrith to discuss his latest book, The Burning Earth.

A brilliant, paradigm-shifting global history of how humanity has reshaped the planet, and the planet has shaped human history, over the last 500 years.

In this magisterial book, historian Sunil Amrith twins the stories of environment and Empire, of genocide and eco-cide, of an extraordinary expansion of human freedom and its planetary costs. Drawing on an extraordinarily rich diversity of primary sources, he reckons with the ruins of Portuguese silver mining in Peru, British gold mining in South Africa, and oil extraction in Central Asia. He explores the railroads and highways that brought humans to new terrains of battle against each other and against stubborn nature. Amrith’s account of the ways in which the First and Second World Wars involved the massive mobilization not only of men, but of other natural resources from around the globe, provides an essential new way of understanding war as an irreversible reshaping of the planet. So too does this book reveal the reality of migration as consequence of environmental harm.

The imperial, globe-spanning pursuit of profit, joined with new forms of energy and new possibilities of freedom from hunger and discomfort, freedom to move and explore, has brought change to every inch of the Earth. Amrith relates in gorgeous prose, and on the largest canvas, a mind-altering epic—vibrant with stories, characters, and vivid images—in which humanity might find the collective wisdom to save itself.

Sunil Amrith is the Renu and Anand Dhawan Professor of History and Professor of the Environment at Yale University. He is the author of five books and recipient of multiple awards, including a MacArthur “genius” fellowship and the 2024 Fukuoka Prize.

The Jailhouse Lawyer is available to pre-order through bookseller White Whale Bookstore who will be set-up in the lobby with many books available for purchase by other authors that have been part of the Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures series.

TICKETS
In person tickets start at $31 Sunil Amrith | Seat Selection for the upper balcony (where it is easier for a group to sit together) Tickets may also be purchased by phone (412) 622-8866 or at the door starting at 6:30 PM

For Online Tickets ($31) Sunil Amrith Online The viewing link will be emailed on the day of the event. Viewers will have access to the recorded program for one week.

Parking While many visitors find street parking, the Carnegie Museum has plenty of parking which is conveniently located near the museum entrance at the corner of Forbes Ave & S. Craig Street. Here is a link with more info about parking and directions http://cmoa.org/visit/directions-maps-parking/