As world leaders eschew cooperation to address climate change, nuclear proliferation, economic meltdown, and other threats to our survival, more and more people experience a pervasive sense of dread and despair. Is there anything we can do? What can put us on the course from mutual destruction to common preservation? In the past, social movements have sometimes made rapid and unexpected changes that countered apparently incurable social problems. In Common Preservation, Brecher shares his experiences and what he has learned that can help ward off mutual destruction, and provides a unique heuristic–a toolkit for thinkers and activists–to understand and create new forms of common preservation.