In this groundbreaking exploration of crisis and revival, Thomas Homer-Dixon argues that the modern world has become increasingly vulnerable to breakdown - whether from terrorist attacks, environmental disasters, energy scarcity, or the widening gap between rich and poor. But it is also ripe for renewal. Although recent disasters have caused tremendous suffering, they have taught us how we can reinvigorate the economic, political, and social systems that sustain us. Collapse and upheaval are always terrifying. The Upside of Down shows how they can also catalyze the renewal of our societies and our lives.