Brimming with ideas and unexpected correlations, Water is far more than a biography of its nominal subject. Given society’s ancient, tangled relationship with water, the book stands as a compelling history of civilization itself, from its earliest days to the present, with implications for the future, as it offers a disturbing glimpse of a time when our association with water is poised to enter a particularly perilous phase ... The story of humanity and water is as long as the Nile and as tortuous as the Mississippi, but Mr. Boccaletti, an honorary research associate at Oxford University’s Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, charts it in a masterly way, writing in clear if sometimes technical prose and focusing on the salient detail without losing sight of the whole.
[Boccaletti] identifies river systems that defined and sustained early civilizations (the Tigris and Euphrates, the Nile, the Amazon, the Yangtze) and convincingly argues that ancient and contemporary political and economic systems were developed, in part, to address the ownership and control of water and govern the fair and effective use of water as a public good ... A fascinating analysis that will bridge the interests of environmentalists and historians, political scientists, or economists.
... informative if dry ... while Boccaletti covers a lot of ground, things never come together into a cohesive narrative. There’s loads of information on offer and plenty of intriguing history, but the meandering path doesn’t really lead anywhere.
As with all other life forms, humanity is inextricably linked to water. With a favorable balance, we progress; absent that balance, we struggle. We understand this truth on a fundamental level, but Boccaletti’s wonderfully detailed account of humankind’s relationship with water truly brings this fact to life. A trained atmospheric scientist and an honorary research associate at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford, Boccaletti is eminently qualified to lead readers through the fascinating details of the stories of civilizations and the water systems that sustained or failed them ... During this time of accelerated population growth, climate change, and political instability, Water is essential reading.
