Water : the epic struggle for wealth, power, and civilization / Steven Solomon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Solomon, Steven.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Water and civilization.

Physical Description:

x, 596 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, N.Y. : Harper, [2010]

Summary:

"A narrative account of how water has shaped human society from the ancient past to the present"--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The indispensable resource

Water and the start of civilization

Rivers, irrigation, and the earliest empires

Seafaring, trade, and the making of the Mediterranean world

The Grand Canal and the flourishing of Chinese civilization

Islam, deserts, and the destiny of history's most water-fragile civilization

Waterwheel, plow, cargo ship, and the awakening of Europe

The voyages of discovery and the launch of the oceanic era

Steam power, industry, and the Age of the British Empire

The sanitary revolution

Water frontiers and the emergence of the United States

The canal to America's Century

Giant dams, water abundance, and the rise of global society

Water : the new oil

Thicker than blood : the water-famished Middle East

From have to have-not : mounting water distress in Asia's rising giants

Opportunity for scarcity : the new policies of water in the industrial democracies.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical reference (pages [501]-564) and index.

ISBN:

9780060548308 :

0060548304 :

OCLC:

310399362