Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization by Steven Solomon (PDF)

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“I read this wide-ranging and thoughtful book while sitting on the banks of the Ganges near Varanasi—it’s a river already badly polluted, and now threatened by the melting of the loss of the glaciers at its source to global warming. Four hundred million people depend on it, and there’s no backup plan. As Steven Solomon makes clear, the same is true the world over; this volume will give you the background to understand the forces that will drive much of 21st century history.” —Bill McKibben In Water, esteemed journalist Steven Solomon describes a terrifying—and all too real—world in which access to fresh water has replaced oil as the primary cause of global conflicts that increasingly emanate from drought-ridden, overpopulated areas of the world. Meticulously researched and undeniably prescient, Water is a stunningly clear-eyed action statement on what Robert F Kennedy, Jr. calls “the biggest environmental and political challenge of our time.”

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review “A tour de force. . . . Thoughtful. . . . Well-written. . . . Solomon shows that when the incentives are right―where governments and markets are allowed to focus on the real costs of and opportunities for using water resources–much better management of water systems follows.” — The National Interest“A fascinating and provocative work of history that shines new light on what is probably the biggest environmental and political challenge of our time. Steven Solomon’s brilliant book reveals how today’s planetary crisis of freshwater scarcity is recasting the world order and the societies in which we live.” — Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.“A sweeping history. . . . Solomon identifies plenty of obstacles to an equitable future, both institutional and geophysical, but remains optimistic that science-born solutions are in the offing. . . . A useful piece for readers interested in natural resources and the geopolitics attendant to them.” — Kirkus Reviews“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“Solomon’s soaring account of our attempt to manage earth’s total environment over millennia never neglects the individuals, inventions, and initiatives pivotal to that effort. Water is the most alarming and compelling call to action I’ve read since Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.” — Linda Lear, author of Rachel Carson“Persuasive. . . . Unique. . . . Solomon surveys the current state of the world’s water resources by region, making a compelling case that the U.S. and other leading democracies have untapped strategic advantages that will only become more significant as water becomes scarcer.” — Publishers Weekly“This volume will give you the background to understand the forces that will drive much of 21st century history.” — Bill McKibben“ Steve Solomon also defines the critical challenges of water – and the need for new thinking – for nations and peoples around the world, both for today and in the future.” ―Daniel Yergin, author of The Prize: the Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power — Daniel Yergin, author of The Prize: the Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power“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“Seeking to inspire us to place a higher value on water and establish wiser approaches to its use, Solomon has created a brilliantly discursive and compelling epic of humankind’s most vital resource.” — Booklist (starred review) From the Inside Flap 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.–Publishers Weekly From the Back Cover 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. About the Author Steven Solomon is a journalist who has written for The New York Times, BusinessWeek, 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. Read more

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Water resources vary greatly nation to nation. The US, Canada, Russia, and Brazil has rich water resources. Other nations are heavily reliant on rivers for irrigation and drinking water. Since water scarcity is increasing, and because water is a factor in economic and political success, US foreign policy and foreign aid concerning water will be part of the competition between democracies and dictatorships. In America, many universities have good research on water resources. Leading by example, the US will improve management of the Colorado River and California groundwater (ex. rationing, changing land use). Democrats are very serious about maintaining the international balance between autocracies and the liberal world order. However, numerous decisions are pushing nations toward environmental collapse, and even the most rudimentary efforts are not being made to conserve water, farmland, and many types of energy and mineral resources. In this way both the autocracies and liberal democratic nations have internal contradictions. While some regions gain wealth many more are becoming impoverished, and often the first sign of impoverishment is water scarcity. Ideas, research, and recommendations from this book and other conservation books point the way forward to a sustainable future. Such a world is one where autocracies and democracies may coexist. That is also a world where fewer nations of the Global South become failed states. Again, the US will lead by policy, funding, and by its own example in managing natural resources, operating on a balanced or near balanced budget, maintaining public order, and keeping free and fair elections.

⭐This book provides a history of human efforts to control fresh water dating back to the ancient Egyptians, Mesopotamians, Chinese, and covering most major civilizations since. Solomon gives an informative and fascinating account of efforts to divert, collect, and control water resources throughout history. We see the ways that droughts, floods, and fights over these resources have affected civilizations for the past 6000 years.The extent to which the ancients engineered water supplies and depended on these efforts was new to me, as I would expect it to be to the vast majority of readers. It is surprising to see how far back in history human manipulation of rivers and wetlands reaches, as well as the scale of some of these projects. It is also surprising to see how far back in history environmental damage, and economic repercussions, can be documented from some of these projects.The book follows history to the present day, covering modern dam-building, water for power generation, and even efforts to restore the drained wetlands of the Florida Everglades.Negatives: There are a few passages in Chapter 3 where the timelines confused me and I needed to resort to the Internet for clarification. There are several chapters on control of ocean shipping lanes which seem more about transportation and military history, somewhat tangential to the primary focus of the book.Overall, the book is clearly written, informative, and comprehensive. I enjoyed reading it and learned a great deal. I’d recommend the book for anyone interested in history, particularly economic or environmental history, no technical background required. The book would provide a good historical context for an introductory course on environmental policy. Another reviewer has recommended the book for high school students, and I concur. I could see the relevant chapters from this book supporting high school or undergraduate courses on ancient history, the industrial revolution, and other periods, as well as giving some historical context to an earth science course.

⭐Several reviewers have complained about the repetitive verbiage in this book, what I have come to realize is that this is a tactic authors use to hide the nastiness of a subtle agenda. (Not to mention that they can blame erroneous statements, and ugly expressed opinions on poor/lack of editing) It’s the “Bury them in B.S.” tactic. In this age of short-attention spans, people often skim through a book, get the highlights, and then commence to rave about how wonderful the book is.Solomon writes on pg. 283: “…with his [Eli Whitney] 1793 invention of the cotton gin…overnight cotton became a thriving cash crop of the American South, reviving the waning institution of slavery…”. Waning? Really? The importation of slave labor was not illegal until 1808. And what about the slaves used for rice cultivation in the Carolinas; or the slaves working on tobacco in Virginia? This nation fought its bloodiest war (before Vietnam) because the planter class was determined to retain the slaves that were the status symbol of the time. Waning, hardly.If you believe that a benevolent, barely-regulated free market is the way to avoid water shortages in the future, this is the book for you. Solomon makes his case for the privatization of water (pg. 490): “Better—more pragmatic—odds of success surely lie with greater reliance upon the self-interested, profit motive of individuals organized by the politically indifferent market anchored in a pricing mechanism for valuing water that reflects both the full cost of sustaining ecosystems through externally imposed environmental standards and a social fairness guarantee for everyone to receive at affordable cost the minimum amounts necessary for their basic needs”. Translation: Leave it up to individuals (motivated by greed), to “guarantee” (more or less) that everyone will be allowed to purchase (not free) a “minimum” amount of water (amount to be decided by him and his class?), at an “affordable” price (affordable to be defined by him and his class?).I did gain one insight from the book,. Some people thought the U.S. attacked Iraq for its oil; I thought the U.S. attacked Iraq in order to destroy its military thereby enabling an unimpeded air strike against Iran by Israel. Solomon’s book suggests another possibility: “The desert nations of the Arabian Peninsula and Libya, as well as arid Israel and Palestine, outgrew their internal water resources for sustainable food self-sufficiency in the 1950s” (pg.384); “Some 98 percent of Euphrates water originates in Turkey, before passing through Syria and on to Iraq and the Persian Gulf” (pg. 408).Clues that a book is promulgating “B.S”.: the story is told non-linearly, leading the reader to confuse and conflate unrelated “facts”; “Notes” instead of “Footnotes”, creates the illusion of scholarly rigor. .

⭐Brilliant book

⭐The book is in a good shape, I like it.

⭐I can recommend highly this book WATER

⭐A great book! Well written and very interesting! The book gives a great insight into our current problem of water shortage and explains how different civilizations have been using water.

⭐現在、既に兆候の表れている「ウォーター・クライシス」の状況と、それにかかわる「水ビジネスの状況」が、詳しく記されている。「気候温暖化」の影響もあるが、1960年代から、1970年代にかけて、かつて、ローマ・クラブが発した「食糧危機」の警鐘に対して、その危機を克服できた手法「グリーン革命」のなかで、確かに、「食糧危機」は回避できた。しかし、その手法の中のひとつの「食糧生産倍増の品種改良」によって、「水の消費量」が約三倍になり、そのため、河川の水、地下水などが、過剰消費され、「ウォーター・クライシス」が近づきつつあり、そして、今度の危機は、「ウォーター・クライシス」と「フード・クライシス」が、セットでやってきつつあり、もう、そま兆しが表れている。私の「地球を救う科学技術の展望」でも、この書や、「グリーン革命」( トーマス・フリードマン著)を引用しつつ、いかにして危機を回避するか、を論じている。( 現在、英訳途中 )

⭐

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