Williamsburg Regional Library

Rivers of power, how a natural force raised kingdoms, destroyed civilizations, and shapes our world, Laurence C Smith

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

mapsplatesillustrations

index present

non fiction

Rivers of power

bibliography

1153324114

Laurence C Smith

how a natural force raised kingdoms, destroyed civilizations, and shapes our world

Rivers, more than any road, technology, or political leader, have shaped the course of human civilization. They have opened frontiers, founded cities, settled borders, and fed billions. They promote life, forge peace, grant power, and can capriciously destroy everything in their path. Even today, rivers remain a powerful global force -- one that is more critical than ever to our future. In Rivers of Power, geographer Laurence C. Smith explores the timeless yet underappreciated relationship between rivers and civilization as we know it. Rivers are of course important in many practical ways (water supply, transportation, sanitation, etc). But the full breadth of their influence on the way we live is less obvious. Rivers define and transcend international borders, forcing cooperation between nations. Huge volumes of river water are used to produce energy, raw commodities, and food. Wars, politics, and demography are transformed by their devastating floods. The territorial claims of nations, their cultural and economic ties to each other, and the migrations and histories of their peoples trace back to rivers, river valleys, and the topographic divides they carve upon the world. And as climate change, technology, and cities transform our relationship with nature, new opportunities are arising to protect the waters that sustain us

The Palermo stone -- On the border -- The century of humiliation and other war stories -- Ruin and renewal -- Seizing the current -- Pork soup -- Going with the flow -- A thirst for data -- Rivers rediscovered

adult