We are delighted that former Prime minister Gordon Brown will appear at our festival via Zoom at 2 PM on 16th October to discuss his latest book. This is a free Zoom event.
From a Press Release from Simon and Schuster publishers of Seven Ways to Change the World.
Gordon Brown is the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
He served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2007 to 2010 and is widely credited with preventing a second Great Depression through his stewardship of the 2009 London G20 summit. He was one of the first leaders during the global crisis to initiate calls for global financial action, while introducing a range of rescue measures in the UK. In April 2009, he hosted the G20 Summit in London where world leaders committed to make an additional $1.1 trillion available to help the world economy through the crisis and restore credit, growth and jobs. They also pledged to strengthen financial supervision and regulation.
Previously, he served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1997 to 2007, making him the longest-serving Chancellor in modern history.
In his new book Seven Ways to Change the World he provides an authoritative and inspirational pathway to a better future that is essential reading for policy makers and concerned citizens alike.
When the Covid-19 pandemic swept across the globe in 2020, it brought the world to a standstill. The virus caused disruption on an unprecedented scale, greater than the aftermath of 9/11 or the global financial crisis – but the reality is that it hit a world that had already fractured along social and political lines.
But, out of such disruption can come a new way of thinking, and in this superb and authoritative book former UK prime minister Gordon Brown offers his solutions to the challenges we face in 2021 and beyond. In Seven Ways to Change the World, he states that there are seven major global problems we must address: global health; climate change and environmental damage; nuclear proliferation; global financial instability; the humanitarian crisis and global poverty; the barriers to education and opportunity; and global inequality and its biggest manifestation, global tax havens. Each one presents an immense challenge that requires an urgent global response and solution. All should be on the world’s agenda today. None can be solved by one nation acting on its own, but all can be addressed if we work together as a global community.
However, Brown remains optimistic that, despite the many obstacles in our way, we will find a path to regeneration via a new era of global order. Yes, there is a crisis of globalisation, but we are beginning to see the means by which it might be resolved. Crises create opportunities and having two at once shouldn’t just focus the mind, it might even be seen as giving greater grounds for hope.
Twitter: @GordonBrown www.gordonandsarahbrown.com
EARLY PRAISE:
‘I have seen the great work that Gordon Brown has done on financing education in the world’s poorest countries. Now he turns his mind to other pressing global issues to find solutions that could bring genuine change to the world, I’m going to pay attention. I’m going to read. And hope.’
Jo Nesbø, author
‘Gordon’s Brown’s wisdom, integrity and passion make him an essential voice for us all to heed, and to give us hope, in these unchartered times.’
David Tennant, actor
“Gordon Brown is a person of action. He has a comprehensive view of the world that goes from a fair version of an open globalisation and drops down to what’s needed to support individuals.”
Mark Carney- former Governor of the Bank of England and author of Value(s)- Building a Better World for All
‘Gordon Brown is one of the last grown-up, truly committed politicians dedicated to public service, putting those he served needs before his own – always. With this book he helps us envisage a brighter future towards which we can all make a contribution and as ever, Brown seeks to steer us towards a better world shaped by our better selves.’
Arabella Weir, actor and comedian
‘Gordon Brown highlights the global challenges our generation must need and makes the case for the global cooperation we urgently need.’
Graça Machel, Founder, Graça Machel Trust
‘This is a compelling, challenging, inspiring and very timely book. The world needs big brains with big ideas as we come out of the pandemic, and few people are better equipped to tackle the major issues facing us all right now than Gordon Brown.’
Piers Morgan, TV presenter and writer
‘Immensely powerful and persuasive. Gordon Brown, as one of the biggest of the Big Beasts, explains, cajoles, unpicks, recommends and exhorts with wisdom won from long experience. Expect mathematical analyses: study his compassionate solutions: rise to his compelling call for action. I found it exhilarating throughout.’
Joanna Lumley, actor and campaigner
‘Particularly important and shown in the pages of this book is Gordon Brown’s commitment to international cooperation and the role of international institutions.’
Ban Ki-moon, Former General Secretary of the United Nations
‘Gordon Brown draws on his unparalleled experience to show us how international cooperation is the only way to solve the challenges of our societies, economies and environment. Every chapter is brimming with ideas and insight – and will leave you feeling inspired to change the world.’
Baroness Minouche Shafik – Director, London School of Economics and author of What We Owe Each Other: A New Social Contract
‘Gordon [Brown] has never given up trying to make the world a better, fairer place and I’m confident he never will. His vision, ideas and passion shine through on every page of this insightful and timely book.’
Ed Balls, former Shadow Chancellor and TV presenter, author of Appetite
‘Some serious solutions to some very serious problems. Inspiring, readable and so great to feel that, in Gordon Brown, there’s a proper, big-brained adult in the room.’
David Schneider, actor and writer
‘In the face of so many assaults on the truth that all countries depend on each other, it has never been more vital to fight back and assert the imperative of finding global answers to global problems. Gordon Brown does so with passion, clarity and an invigorating combination of urgency with thoughtfulness, of alarm about the threats with confidence that we can indeed meet them. This is a book that will galvanise and give heart to the struggle for a sustainable, just and peaceful future.’
Fintan O’Toole, author
Seven Ways to Change the World
SIMON & SCHUSTER, HARDBACK, PRICED £25.00
SEVEN WAYS TO CHANGE THE WORLD is also available in ebook and audio formats
