THE BLOODLESS REVOLUTION: RADICAL VEGETARIANS AND THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA

Book ID/图书代码： 03635005B03153

English Summary/英文概要： In the 1600s, European travellers discovered Indian vegetarianism. Western culture was changed forever…

When early travellers returned from India with news of the country’s vegetarians, they triggered a crisis in the European conscience. This panoramic tale recounts the explosive results of an enduring cultural exchange between East and West and tells of puritanical insurgents, Hinduphiles, scientists and philosophers who embraced a radical agenda of reform. These visionaries dissented from the entrenched custom of meat-eating, and sought to overthrow a rapacious consumer society. Their legacy is apparent even today.

‘The Bloodless Revolution’ is a grand history made up by interlocking biographies of extraordinary figures, from the English Civil War to the era of Romanticism and beyond. It is filled with stories of spectacular adventure in India and subversive scientific controversies carved out in a Europe at the dawn of the modern age. Accounts of Thomas Tryon’s Hindu vegetarian society in 17th-century London are echoed by later ‘British Brahmins’ such as John Zephaniah Holwell, once Governor of Calcutta, who concocted his own half-Hindu, half-Christian religion. Whilst Revolution raged in France, East India Company men John Stewart and John Oswald returned home armed to the teeth with the animal-friendly tenets of Hinduism. Dr George Cheyne, situated at the heart of Enlightenment medicine, brought scientific clout to the movement, converting some of London’s leading lights to his ‘milk and seed’ diet. From divergent perspectives, Descartes, Rousseau, Voltaire and Shelley all questioned whether it was right to eat meat. Society’s foremost thinkers engaged in the debate and their challenge to mainstream assumptions sowed the seeds of modern ecological consciousness.

This stunning debut is a rich cornucopia of 17th- and 18th-century travel, adventure, radical politics, literature and philosophy. Reaching forward into the 20th-century with the vegetarian ideologies of Hitler and Gandhi, it sheds surprising light on values still central to modern society.

Chinese Summary/中文概要： 对于古往今来的许多人来说，不吃肉是一个既定事实：对于他们来说，肉类食物太稀少或太昂贵了。而在那些能够负担得起吃肉的人当中，也有许多人选择不吃肉，原因则各不相同。

本书就追溯了17世纪以来素食主义观念在欧洲的演变历程，介绍了早期素食者从哲学、医学、经济学等角度主张素食的观点及其流变，尤其凸显了印度的素食主义思想对于欧洲的深刻影响。而通过研究不同时期的人们对于食物的态度，我们可以一窥他们当时是如何理解人与万物的关系的，也可以一探我们现在的价值观是如何被塑造的。

现如今，我们享受着过去不可想象的繁荣程度，人均肉类消费量不断攀升，但另一方面，我们也面临着气候变化、全球贫富差距拉大、粮食浪费等严峻挑战。吃肉，不吃肉，还是少吃肉，甚至免费素食主义（freeganism）——这依然是一个值得每一个人思考并做出选择的问题。(DB)

Awards/获奖情况：‘Fascinatingly detailed, luxuriously appointed…elegantly conceived, well written, combining proper scholarship with readability, it is a genuinely revelatory contribution to the history of human ideas.’ Daily Telegraph

‘Extraordinary…Stuart writes with flair and intelligence, and this debut shows that he is destined to be a luminous presence in his literary generation…He might even make some converts to vegetariansim itself.’ A.C. Grayling, Independent on Sunday

‘This is intellectual history at its most scintillating, as passionate and vibrant as any swashbuckling romp or perilous adventure.’ Observer

‘[A] massive and magnificently detailed history of radical vegetarianism…a wonderful book, crammed with original research and written with verve, wit and passion. The most enthralling work of cultural history I have read in years.’ Independent

‘Clearly, a staggering amount of research and dedication has gone into this book and its author displays an extraordinary breadth of knowledge and didactic ability…this makes for fascinating and compelling reading.’ Sunday Times

‘Mr Stuart has a relaxed, semi-anecdotal style which repays both careful engagement and lighter dipping…with the balance of an easy style and comprehensive research, he avoids most of the pitfalls of popular histories in which seeming ephemera take centre stage.’ The Economist

‘This well-written book is essential reading for anyone who wishes to get to grips with the philosophical history of vegetarian debate.’ BBC History Magazine

‘This book is rich in anecdotes of interesting if not altogether sympathetic characters.’ The Spectator

‘Tristram Stuart has certainly done his homework…[he] provides some charming vignettes.’ Catholic Herald

‘Tristram Stuart has written a stimulating intellectual history with extensive bibliography and precise notes. There are also some intriguing illustrations.’ The Tablet

About the Author/作者介绍： 特里斯特拉姆•斯图尔特（Tristram Stuart），英国作家和环保活动家，著有《不流血的革命》（2006）和《浪费：全球粮食危机解密》（2009）。他长期致力于改善粮食生产所带来的环境和社会影响，并在2011年被授予苏菲奖（该奖项由《苏菲的世界》作者设立，旨在表彰致力于促进环境保护和可持续发展的个人或组织）。

从剑桥大学以优异成绩毕业后，他在印度新德里做过自由撰稿人，在科索沃做过项目经理，并在媒体上积极发声，呼吁公众关注食品生产、流通和消费环节中的浪费。他在29岁时出版了处女作《不流血的革命》，开始崭露头角。他的第二本书《浪费》引发了巨大反响，他的TED演讲《全球食物浪费的丑闻》更吸引了超过百万的观看量。

作为一名骄傲的免费素食主义者，他在2009年策划了“喂食5000人”活动：5000人在伦敦的特拉法加广场上聚餐，免费享用利用被遗弃的蔬菜及其他食物制成的午餐。他后来成立非营利组织“反哺”（Feedback），在全球各地推广此项活动及其他公益项目。(DB)

Tristram Stuart graduated from Cambridge University in 1999 and has since been a freelance writer for newspapers and magazines including India Express and The Hindu and Down to Earth. The Bloodless Revolution is his first book.

Format:HARDCOVER ILLUSTRATED

Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE(到期可授)

Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE(到期可授)

Sales in other countries/其他国家销售情况：

原文第一章内容：暂无

手稿：暂无

大纲：暂无