Peak Water

Our Ebooks are powered by Glassboxx
Click here to learn about our Ebooks.

About the Book: 

This tale flows from the moment a ditch was dug in old Iraq, to the way our modern cities work. It links the hanging gardens of Babylon to the first water supply for Los Angeles, the ancient myth of the Nile to swimming pools in the desert. Our world has been built around the control of water. We are fed by irrigated fields, live in plumbed cities, and turn on a tap without a moment's thought. Yet experts now believe that the next major war may be fought over water, and it will have life-altering consequences for every part of the world, wet or dry.

Writer Alexander Bell discusses the way our civilisation moved from hunter gathering to the urban one we know today, and the influence that water had on this journey. He shows how water control flows through politics, religion, farming and the idea of the modern state. Yet history is littered with empires that have failed and vanished into dust, and Bell argues that we might face a similar fate unless we learn to manage our water better.

Reviews: 

What makes Peak Water interesting is the way it weaves such laconic personal predictions with a wealth of history, anecdote and analysis, all focussing on the vital role of water in the rise and fall of civilisations... [Bell's] aim is to provoke thought, to stir discussion amongst lay observers – and in that he certainly succeeds. SCOTTISH REVIEW OF BOOKS

How we built civilization on water and drained the world dry is the subject of Alexander Bell’s recent book, Peak Water. Bell delves deeply into the roots of modern civilisation, beginning just before the settlement of the first cities… There have been many books in recent years recounting the trouble we are in when it comes to water, but few that examine how we arrived at this point. Bell does just that… THE ECOLOGIST

About the Author:

ALEXANDER BELL worked as a journalist for the BBC, The Observer and the Herald. He reported from around the world and in the UK on conflicts and major events. Over time, he began to think that the greatest story of the age was how mankind lives on the planet. He became fascinated by water -- the way it influences the shape of so many things, and the assumption that the next big war would be over water. He wrote this book to share that fascination and introduce a wide readership to a vital issue. He lives in Edinburgh with his daughter.