Prologue : a tale of two farms
pt. 1: Modern Montana. Under Montana's big sky
pt. 2: Past societies. Twilight at Easter
The last people alive : Pitcairn and Henderson Islands
The ancient ones : the Anasazi and their neighbors
The Viking prelude and fugues
Norse Greenland's flowering
Opposite paths to success
pt. 3: Modern societies. Malthus in Africa : Rwanda's genocide
One island, two peoples, two histories : the Dominican Republic and Haiti
pt. 4: Practical lessons. Why do some societies make disastrous decisions?
Big businesses and the environment : different conditions, different outcomes
The world as a polder : what does it all mean to us today?
