Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization
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"Steven Solomon has written a riveting historical manifesto on behalf of Water Power. His sweeping narrative, covering centuries, is awe-inspiring. I learned a tremendous amount of usable knowledge from this fine work."--Douglas Brinkley, author of "The Wilderness Warrior"
Product Description
Far more than oil, the control of water wealth has been pivotal to the rise and decline of great powers, notable achievements of civilization, and the quality of ordinary daily lives. In "Water", Steven Solomon offers the first-ever, narrative portrait of the personalities, innovations, and power struggles over water that have transformed human history from the irrigation civilisations of antiquity, Roman Empire, medieval China, Islam's golden age, rise of the West, Industrial Revolution, and are driving the politics, economics and environmental realities of one of the decisive challenges of 21st-century global society-fresh water scarcity. As modern society runs short of its most indispensable resource and the planet's renewable water ecosystems grow depleted, an explosive new fault line is dividing humanity into water Haves and Have-Nots. Genocides, epidemic diseases, failed states, and civil warfare increasingly emanate from water-starved, overpopulated parts of Africa and Asia. Water famines threaten to ignite new wars in the bone-dry Middle East. Faltering clean water supplies menace the sustainable growth and ability of China and India to feed themselves. Water scarcity is inseparably interrelated, with the global crises of energy, food, and climate change. For Western democracies, water represents no less than the new oil-demanding a major rethink of basic domestic and foreign policies, but also offering a momentous opportunity to re-launch its wealth and global power through calculated, strategic exercise of its comparative global advantage as a leading freshwater resource.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Fascinating history of water, though some points could be contradicted by other perspectives. This alone makes it worth a read. I had hoped that the book would outline more of current trends and future opportunities.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Thanks for the book which arrived in excellent condition and seemed to be a very acceptable present for the person whose birthday it was!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
20 reviews
47 of 52 people found the following review helpful
Looking Into The Future
5 Jan 2010
Format:Hardcover
Though few people realize the significance of water, it's quickly becoming one of the most important issues of our day -- not just for governments but for people themselves in their daily lives. As a business journalist, I was fascinated by the way Solomon lets readers in on what is rarely discussed in the media. Robert Kennedy Jr. was right when he said that this book sheds new light on crucial challenges that water has created. Anyone who enjoyed "Cadillac Desert" will be even more interested in what Solomon has to say about the relentless struggle for economic and political power shaping our society.
You don't have to be a history buff to enjoy sections of the book that explain how water played a key role in shaping past civilizations -- and that's a part of history that readers will rarely discover anywhere else. If I have any criticism, it's that this section isn't even longer. Solomon tells an important and fascinating story that will lead readers to think about tomorrow's challenges every time they turn on the tap.
Don Ediger
donediger@aol.com
You don't have to be a history buff to enjoy sections of the book that explain how water played a key role in shaping past civilizations -- and that's a part of history that readers will rarely discover anywhere else. If I have any criticism, it's that this section isn't even longer. Solomon tells an important and fascinating story that will lead readers to think about tomorrow's challenges every time they turn on the tap.
Don Ediger
donediger@aol.com
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
An epic groundbreaking work
14 Feb 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
"Water" should be included as a standard textbook in every high school. I think I learned more about history in this one book then in most of my college and grad courses combined and actually enjoyed it.
Solomon writes in an almost novel-like way through cavemen up to today and hints at some future trends as well. By using water as a combining thread throughout history, Solomon manages to make one civilization after another follow each other in a very logical, exciting and connected way.
Did you know that the first civilization to have flushing toilets started around 2700 BC in the Indus River Valley in India (Harappans)? Forget the decadent Romans. I was so flabbergasted and unbelieving that I had to Google it several times. Yup, it is true. So the USA got widely flushing toilets in the 18-1900s. Hmmmm, pretty cave Manish, aren't we?
"Water" is filled with fun bits of knowledge like this.
For suggestions for improvement, I would suggest adding a more detailed chapter on how water might affect us in the future. Sure, Solomon hints lightly that China and India are going into a near crisis mode as they run out of ground aquifers and river water as their glaciers melt. However, except for stating that the free market system in liberal democracies is shifting to better efficiency, he writes little of the USA's water future. Issues such as the Ogallala aquifer's future and its implications for the future USA and American river water, snow melt and huge reservoirs disappearing (which they are) seem to be lightly dealt with. Solomon ends on a seemingly very upbeat and perhaps blindly optimistic vision of the USA's water future while ignoring some very unsettled thoughts of some current US government hydrologists.
However, as a book describing civilization's past up till the present, it is in the class of Jared Diamond's classic "Collapse" and I highly recommend it. You will never be the same when you finish this book.
Solomon writes in an almost novel-like way through cavemen up to today and hints at some future trends as well. By using water as a combining thread throughout history, Solomon manages to make one civilization after another follow each other in a very logical, exciting and connected way.
Did you know that the first civilization to have flushing toilets started around 2700 BC in the Indus River Valley in India (Harappans)? Forget the decadent Romans. I was so flabbergasted and unbelieving that I had to Google it several times. Yup, it is true. So the USA got widely flushing toilets in the 18-1900s. Hmmmm, pretty cave Manish, aren't we?
"Water" is filled with fun bits of knowledge like this.
For suggestions for improvement, I would suggest adding a more detailed chapter on how water might affect us in the future. Sure, Solomon hints lightly that China and India are going into a near crisis mode as they run out of ground aquifers and river water as their glaciers melt. However, except for stating that the free market system in liberal democracies is shifting to better efficiency, he writes little of the USA's water future. Issues such as the Ogallala aquifer's future and its implications for the future USA and American river water, snow melt and huge reservoirs disappearing (which they are) seem to be lightly dealt with. Solomon ends on a seemingly very upbeat and perhaps blindly optimistic vision of the USA's water future while ignoring some very unsettled thoughts of some current US government hydrologists.
However, as a book describing civilization's past up till the present, it is in the class of Jared Diamond's classic "Collapse" and I highly recommend it. You will never be the same when you finish this book.
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
If you care about the future, you must read this book
13 Jan 2010
Format:Hardcover
Steven Solomon has done us all a great service. We take water for granted. If you read this book, you won't. Water is new oil and unless we pay attention to this issue the future is a dim, dry, place.
Don't presume this is a depressing book. It isn't. You will learn a remarkable history, have stories to tell at the dinner table, and you will leave the experience with some concrete ideas on how to change the future of water.
Don't presume this is a depressing book. It isn't. You will learn a remarkable history, have stories to tell at the dinner table, and you will leave the experience with some concrete ideas on how to change the future of water.
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