Water: A Biography
Rs. 3,590.00
Giulio Boccaletti
“Brimming with ideas and unexpected correlations, Water is far more than a biography of its nominal subject . . . The book stands as a compelling history of civilization itself.”—Gerard Helferich, Wall Street Journal Book Review
“This is one of the most ambitious books that I’ve read in a long time. It is both deep and broad.”—Ari Shapiro, NPR, All Things Considered
“[A] wonderfully detailed account of humankind’s relationship with water . . . During this time of accelerated population growth, climate change, and political instability, Water is essential reading.”—George Kendall, Booklist
“It was an inspired idea to write a ‘biography’ of water and Giulio Boccaletti has carried it off in style. His book is impressively global in scope. It ranges from the earliest human societies to questions of water security in our own time, combining bold lines of argument with compelling examples. Ambitious, assured and very well written, Water: A Biography is an impressive and very welcome addition to the literature.” —David Blackbourn, Cornelius Vanderbilt Distinguished Chair of History, Vanderbilt University.
Spanning millennia and continents, here is a stunningly revealing history of how the distribution of water has shaped human civilization. Boccaletti, of The Nature Conservancy, “tackles the most important story of our time: our relationship with water in a world of looming scarcity” (Kelly McEvers, NPR Host).
Writing with authority and brio, Giulio Boccaletti—honorary research associate at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford—shrewdly combines environmental and social history, beginning with the earliest civilizations of sedentary farmers on the banks of the Nile, the Tigris, and the Euphrates Rivers. Even as he describes how these societies were made possible by sea-level changes from the last glacial melt, he incisively examines how this type of farming led to irrigation and multiple cropping, which, in turn, led to a population explosion and labor specialization.
We see with clarity how irrigation’s structure informed social structure (inventions such as the calendar sprung from agricultural necessity); how in ancient Greece, the communal ownership of wells laid the groundwork for democracy; how the Greek and Roman experiences with water security resulted in systems of taxation; and how the modern world as we know it began with a legal framework for the development of water infrastructure.
Extraordinary for its monumental scope and piercing insightfulness, Water: A Biography richly enlarges our understanding of our relationship to—and fundamental reliance on—the most elemental substance on earth.
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About the Author
Book Specifications
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 400
Published Year: 2022
Publisher: Vintage Books
ISBN: 9780525566007
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