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. 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, the Roman Empire,
medieval China, and Islam's golden age to Europe's rise, the
steam-powered Industrial Revolution, and America's century.
Today, freshwater scarcity is one of the twenty-first
century's decisive, looming challenges and is driving the
new political, economic, and environmental realities across
the globe. 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 to 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 relaunch wealth and global leadership through
exploiting a comparative advantage in freshwater reserves.
Meticulously researched and masterfully written, Steven
Solomon's 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.
Personal message for Steven Solomon. Hi Steven, you'll be surprised to hear from me after quite some year. I know about your success as author and express my congratulations. Please let me know how your are and whether your parents are still alive. All the best from Susanna (Antje Susanne Rath 6:27am April 28, 2022)
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