Water cover art

Water

A Biography

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Water

By: Giulio Boccaletti
Narrated by: Giulio Boccaletti
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About this listen

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.

Cover image: "Vista", painting by Tobias Tovera © 2016

©2020 Giulio Boccaletti (P)2020 Random House Audio
Earth Sciences History Politics & Government Imperialism Self-Determination Ancient History Climate Change Water

Critic Reviews

"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)

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.