Reviews

When the Rivers Run Dry, Fully Revised and Updated Edition: Water-The Defining Crisis of the Twenty-First Century by Fred Pearce

kaylito6's review against another edition

4.0

I did really like this book, it talked about a lot of interesting things in regards to water I have never heard of. It might be a bit out of date now, it would be cool to read a revised version. Sometimes though it talked about so many things it was hard to grasp, and I didn’t really like how it was organized. It could be kind of confusing at times and I don’t know if I retained as much as I was hoping. Make I have a case of “porous head” haha

kaylito22's review against another edition

4.0

I did really like this book, it talked about a lot of interesting things in regards to water I have never heard of. It might be a bit out of date now, it would be cool to read a revised version. Sometimes though it talked about so many things it was hard to grasp, and I didn’t really like how it was organized. It could be kind of confusing at times and I don’t know if I retained as much as I was hoping. Make I have a case of “porous head” haha

sgerichten's review against another edition

Oy. I only got halfway through this one. Though the book is very concisely written, especially for such a broad and deep topic, it put me to sleep everytime I picked it up. Too bad, really, because this is a subject I'm deeply interested in. It just feel very formulaic and repetitive. I may take another stab at a later date.

scarlettgebbie's review against another edition

3.0

“when the rivers are all dried up, and the trees cut down, man will then realise that he will not be able to eat money”

buttermellow's review against another edition

4.0

What I enjoyed about this book was that it was written as a series of case studies around the world that each tackled a different set of water-related issues. Also, it was written by a journalist which made it highly readable and entertaining, while still maintaining a fairly academic feel. Also, he personally travelled & interviewed most of the people he discusses, which makes his stories more personal & compelling. His thoughts on the Aral Sea & the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict were extremely compelling. Although I'd heard arguments previously that water was the major issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Pearce argues that it was at the heart of the conflict way back. The Israelis had well-defined goals at the beginning of the 6-day war of which territory they wanted to capture, which gave them control over almost all of the Jordan River, as well as most of the western aquifer under the West Bank.

It would have been nice if he would have quoted his sources better. There's no bibliography, and although much of the work is based off of personal interviews which he names, there is also a bunch of factual research fleshing out the book, which he doesn't always cite, which is disappointing, but makes sense for a book that's aimed at an audience much wider than the scientific community.