Alastair McIntosh - Soil and Soul: People versus Corporate Power

To the past, present and future people of North Lochs on the Isle of Lewis, to my parents who grafted me there, and my children, Adam and Catriona, whose roots are nourished from that place.

Child go break off from the herd

go beyond the lowlands

leave the valley of shed antlers

the elders are sick

it is your time now

Listen to the Wind, written in Adams treehouse by Barnie McCormack, Bard of Craigencalt

A vast number of people over many years have contributed to the material that has made this book possible. Here I must confine myself to the limited process of thanking some of those who have played major roles while the book was taking shape.

Some of you provided nourishment and care during difficult times or when I was wrestling with explosive material. I think particularly of Lise Bech, Mags Beechey, Mike and Cathy Collard, Christine Davis, Tess and Ian Darwin-Edwards, John Fleming, Tom Forsyth, Samantha Graham, Shirley Anne Hardy, Fred Harrison, David Horrobin, Patrick Laviolette, Babs MacGregor, Maxwell MacLeod, Alesia Maltz, Tara OLeary, Ian Ramsay, Jane Rosegrant, John Seed, Tina Sieber, Jane Stavoe, Helen Steven, Ninian Crichton Stuart, Bron Taylor, Djini van Slyke, Colin Whittemore and Nick Wilding.

Others provided resources that enabled me either to write the book, or to support aspects of the work that it documents. I think particularly of the Christendom Trust, the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, Cecilia Croal of the Russell Trust, Ulrich and Francesca Loening of the Konrad Zweig Trust, and the late Di Bates and others associated with what is now the Craigencalt Farm Ecology Centre in Fife.

Some of you have given considerable support in brainstorming ideas, or have worked painstakingly through parts of the manuscript. (I should stress that you are not responsible for places where I might not have followed your advice, and for sections of the text that you may not have seen.) These people include Marcella Althaus-Reid, Audley Archdale, Tim Birley, the Beavitts and the Dawsons on Scoraig, Ian and the late Jane Callaghan, Jim Crawford, Camille Dressler and others on Eigg, Ian Fraser, Stina Harris, Brendan Hill, Alastair Hulbert, Alison and Andrew Johnson, Satish Kumar, Bashir Maan, John MacAulay and others on Harris, Joan MacDonald, Murdo MacDonald, Norman MacDonald, John MacInnes, Colin and Gehan MacLeod, Donald Macleod, Norman MacLeod, Steven Mackie, Angus MacKinnon, Mike Merritt, Alex George Morrison and the boys from Leurbost, Michael Newton, Michael Northcott, Indra Sinha, Thierry Verhelst, Andy Wightman and, especially, Richard Roberts, professor of religious studies at Lancaster University.

I first met my literary agent, Sheila Watson of Watson, Little Ltd twenty-five years ago. She held the maieutic faith throughout that long gestation. Above all, she found me, at Aurum Press, a very special editor in the person of Karen Ings. Together with their wonderfully helpful colleagues they have nursed this work to fulfilment.

I am grateful to sources cited for their generous permission where it has been needed; these are credited in the relevant endnotes. Where there may have been difficulty in contacting sources or in obtaining responses, I hope they will not mind my having quoted their material, and having done so with warm appreciation.

Finally, living with a writer can be like having three people in a marriage: the book stays awake and wriggles all night. Thank you, Vrne, for drawing me constantly back to the beauty and peace of presence.

In his recent book The Song of the Earth, the Shakespearean scholar Jonathan Bate made the extraordinary claim that poetry could save the world. I think Alastair McIntosh has just proved him right.

This is a world-changing book, one of the most important I have ever read, which will transform our perception of ourselves, our history and our surroundings, much as the work of Alice Miller and Sven Lindqvist has done. It is a first step towards the decolonisation of the soul: the essential imaginative process we have to undergo if we are to save the world from the political and environmental catastrophes that threaten it.

Soil and Soul is an extraordinary adventure in theology, economics, ecology, history and politics. It takes us from the Hebrides to the Solomon Islands, gently guiding us towards a new and remarkable philosophy by means of compelling, beautifully written stories. It overflows with ecstasy, quiet wisdom and love love for humanity, for the world, for our failings and our possibilities.

McIntosh tells the story of his exceptional childhood, the historical de-stabilisation of the community in which he was brought up and, as he travels and reads, his growing understanding of why and how this happened. He explores the colonisation of resources, of human labour and, most importantly, of our own perceptions. Then he uses this emerging wisdom and experience to develop daring and innovative means of tackling the powers that have deprived us of ourselves.