Water

by Solomon, Steven

• ISBN13: 9780060548315
• ISBN10: 0060548312
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-01-01
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

Far more than oil, the control of water wealth throughout history has been pivotal to the rise and fall of great powers, the achievements of civilization, the transformations of society's vital habitats, and the quality of ordinary daily lives. Today, freshwater scarcity is one of the twenty-first century's decisive, looming challenges, driving new political, economic, and environmental realities across the globe. In "Water," Steven Solomon offers the first-ever narrative portrait of the power struggles, personalities, and breakthroughs that have shaped humanity from antiquity's earliest civilizations through the steam-powered Industrial Revolution and America's century. Meticulously researched and masterfully written, "Water" is a groundbreaking account of man's most critical resource in shaping human destinies, from ancient times to our dawning age of water scarcity.

Author Biography

Steven Solomon is a journalist who has written for The New York Times, Business-Week, The Economist, Forbes, and Esquire, and has commented on NPR's Marketplace. He is also the author of The Confidence Game. Solomon lives in Washington, D.C.

Table of Contents

List of Maps	p. XI
Prologue	p. 1
Water in Ancient History
The Indispensable Resource	p. 9
Water and the Start of Civilization	p. 15
Rivers, Irrigation, and the Earliest Empires	p. 24
Seafaring, Trade, and the Making of the Mediterranean World	p. 59
The Grand Canal and the Flourishing of Chinese Civilization	p. 96
Islam, Deserts, and the Destiny of History's Most Water-Fragile Civilization	p. 126
Water and the Ascendancy of the West
Waterwheel, Plow, Cargo Ship, and the Awakening of Europe	p. 157
The Voyages of Discovery and the Launch of the Oceanic Era	p. 180
Steam Power, Industry, and the Age of the British Empire	p. 211
Water and the Making of the Modern Industrial Society
The Sanitary Revolution	p. 249
Water Frontiers and the Emergence of the United States	p. 266
The Canal to America's Century	p. 302
Giant Dams, Water Abundance, and the Rise of Global Society	p. 322
The Age of Scarcity
Water: The New Oil	p. 367
Thicker Than Blood: The Water-Famished Middle East	p. 384
From Have to Have-Not: Mounting Water Distress in Asia's Rising Giants	p. 417
Opportunity from Scarcity: The New Politics of Water in the Industrial Democracies	p. 448
Epilogue	p. 487
Acknowledgments	p. 497
Notes	p. 501
Select Bibliography	p. 551
Photograph Credits	p. 565
Index	p. 567
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