Drifting north

Finding a sustainable future in Scotland's past

By: Dominic Hinde

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eBook | 28 October 2025

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Past and future collide in this engaging journey through climate change, fossil capitalism and the struggle for a sustainable world.

Scotland's history and future are entangled with climate change and the story of the modern world. This small country on the fringes of northern Europe pioneered fossil capitalism and played a key role in its spread across the planet. It is a living museum of the crisis of the west, of deindustrialisation, stagnation and the struggle to build a better future from the ashes.

Journalist and sociologist Dominic Hinde travels from the treeless Highlands to the lowland cities, struggling to balance memories with aspiration. Through this journey he finds that his own sensory turmoil, shaped by recovery from a near fatal accident, mirrors the disarray of the fossil fuel transition - an uncertain passage between what was and what must be.

Part memoir, part environmental history, part travelogue, this is a compelling narrative of connections - to place, energy and the possibility of renewal. Through the lens of one country, it asks a vital question: can the lessons of the past help us build a more sustainable future?