I've just finished reading a book for an exam and, since I've loved it, I highly raccomend it to everyone; It's called "Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed" by Jared Diamond.
I believe that everyone might benefit from knowing something about the mechanisms and processes that constitutes the impact of mankind on the environment and this book makes a wonderful job in giving an insight on the matter from various angles: archaeological, sociological, economical, anthropological and biological ones are all taken into account.
We are oft under the impression that the past is a distant thing that has little to do with us. It is not so, we are closely connected to the past since it is always intrinsecally present in our surroundings (and much more). I rather think that the author of this book has made a wonderful job in communicating this concept.