This Book Is a Knife: Radical Working-Class Strategies in the Age of Climate Change

by L.E. Fox

An incendiary anti-capitalist response to climate change rooted in hope for the future, this book is a tool or a weapon, depending on how you use it


Despite the naysayers, climate change is a fact. We know that global temperatures are rising, that weather patterns are changing, that forest fires, droughts, flooding, severe storms, and heat waves are the new normal. We know this planet is teetering on the edge of climate collapse, an apocalyptic event that threatens not only the future of human civilization, but also the millions of other unique life forms on Earth. We know it's all our fault—it's the direct result of human beings burning fossil fuels and spewing out carbon emissions at such a fantastic pace that we've changed the fate of the entire planet, and it leaves most of us feeling helpless. What can any of us really do?


This Book Is a Knife is a startling essay collection that explores the origins and dangers of climate change through a critique of capitalism and an exploration of the ways in which we might radically reimagine our world before it's too late. Rooted in L.E. Fox's background as a science journalist, This Book Is a Knife is a frank, plain-spoken, and sharply incisive series of missives designed to wake us up to the urgent reality of climate change and the lies we are fed based on the fact that the real issue is neither climate nor the environment—it's capitalism.


Fierce and unapologetic, This Book Is a Knife is a passionate and unique dissection of climate change that offers new possibilities for saving the world.


This publication meets the EPUB Accessibility requirements and it also meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG-AA). It is screen-reader friendly and is accessible to persons with disabilities. This book is defined with accessible structural markup. This book contains various accessibility features such as alternative text for images, table of contents, page-list, landmark, reading order and semantic structure.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

352 pages, Paperback

Published May 13, 2025

Reviews

[Biena Magbitang · Rating 2 out of 5]

True to its description, This Book Is a Knife is fiery, blunt, and unapologetically anti-capitalist. As someone who works in the climate space, I recognize the urgency of Fox’s message and I agree that this book belongs on essential reading lists — even if I didn’t particularly enjoy it.

The strongest parts of this book are its clarity of anger and refusal to soften the truth: climate change is inseparable from capitalism, and tinkering at the edges will not be enough. That kind of honesty is rare, and Fox delivers it with conviction.

But the delivery often grated. The opening “pretend TV interview” felt more gimmicky than effective — and as a broadcast journalist, I found it especially cringey. The writing occasionally tips into arrogance, and some personal anecdotes (like outdoor adventures in Canada or the knife story itself) may feel alienating, especially to readers in Asia.

Still, even when I rolled my eyes, I couldn’t deny the book’s necessity. It’s provocative, it pushes boundaries, and it may shake people out of complacency. If you want a book that doesn’t coddle, this is it.

Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the review copy.

[Lake · Rating 1 out of 5]

Starting with the good: Fox is a decent writer, and their prose (natural imagery in particular) during personal anecdotes really captivated me. I would much rather have read a memoir from this person.

The not-so-good: I can't help but feel completely misled by the cover's promise ("working class strategies") and the promises of the first few chapters.

Fox spends some time promising that this book will give you strategies and ways to think/act during a capitalism-fueled crisis. Then, they spend 300 pages offering zero strategies or solutions. They simply describe the problem (fossil-fuel-centric civilization) and complain and complain and complain, in diverse and creative ways, about the same thing, over and over again.

As a working-class environmentalist, I was really looking forward to practical solutions, or even any sort of guidance, on what to do about capitalism and climate change. Instead, I left with no new opinions, nothing learned, and I still feel as lost as before.

[Enid Wray · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read title for anyone interested in where we are going as a global community facing the existential crisis that is climate change.

This is an excellent policy critique of 21st Century capitalism (and patriarchy). This is a how-to-guide. This is a call to action.

This demands to be read.

Thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for granting me access to an early digital review copy.

[Johanne]

DNF during the interview written as a script.

It’s a knife alright. I was hoping to learn about fighting climate change and working class solidarity. Instead, it just felt like I was yelled at by an arrogant and annoyed stranger.