• Author: Helena Norberg-Hodge
• Publisher: Sierra Club Books, 1991
• Length: 204 pages
• Hardback with b&w photos

'Ancient Futures' is much more than a book about Ladakh. Passionately argued, it raises important questions about the whole notion of progress, and explores the root causes of the malaise of industrial society. At the same time, the story of Ladakh serves as a source of inspiration for our own future. It shows us that another way is possible, and points to some of the first steps toward kinder, gentler patterns of living.

Endorsements:

'I share the author's concern for the threatened ecology of our planet and admire the work she has done in promoting alternative solutions to many of the problems of modern development.' - H.H. The Dalai Lama

'The celebration here of traditional Ladakhi life indices exhilaration but also sadness, as if some half-remembered paradise known in another life had now been lost. So evocative is it that I felt - I'm not sure what - homesickness? Or perhaps a memory of 'homegoing', as if I were returning to lost paradise, that ancient and harmonious way of life that even Westerners once knew…' - Peter Matthiessen