July/August 2005 Issue

The Subtitle That Saved Civilization

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Books may not be more interesting these days (or even better written), but a quick spin through their dust jackets makes one thing clear: Their subjects are crucial—crucial—to the very bedrock upon which our civilization rests. Some recent titles:

Oak: The Frame of Civilization by William Bryant Logan

Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky

How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization by Thomas E. Woods Jr.

How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe’s Poorest Nation Created Our World and Everything in It by Arthur Herman

How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill

How the Hungarians Saved Western Civilization by Zoltán Deák

How the Homosexuals Saved Civilization: The True and Heroic
Story of How Gay Men Shaped the Modern World by Cathy Crimmins

The Battle of Salamis: The Naval Encounter That Saved Greece–and Western Civilization by Barry Strauss

PugSpotting: A True History of How Pugs Saved Civilization by Susanne McCaffery-Saville

If you buy a book using a Bookshop link on this page, a small share of the proceeds supports our journalism.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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