Elixir

A History of Water and Humankind

By: Brian Fagan

Narrated by: James Langton

Elixir spans five thousand years, from the beginnings of civilization to the parched American Sun Belt of today. It is a story of human endeavor: our present-day interaction with this most essential resource has deep roots in the remote past, and every human culture has been shaped by its relationship to water. For the earliest hunter-gatherers, knowing where to find water was a matter of life and death; the "songlines" of Australia's Aborigines define the whole landscape as a map of sacred water sources. In many agricultural societies, from Africa to the rice fields of Bali, a communal "water philosophy" surrounds the precious resource with social traditions that preserve fair access for people upstream and down.

The sweeping narrative moves from the Greeks and Romans, whose mighty acqueducts still water modern cities, to China, where emperors marshaled armies of laborers in a centuries-long struggle, still ongoing today, to tame the country's powerful rivers. Medieval Europe and then the Industrial Revolution brought ingenious new solutions to water management---but, for the first time, turned water into a commodity to be bought, sold, and exploited rather than a natural force to be worshiped and husbanded. By the twentieth century, technology allowed the American desert to sparkle with swimming pools and lush golf courses---with little regard for sustainability.

With his customary elegance and peerless scholarship, Brian Fagan illustrates that the past teaches us that technologies for solving one or another water problem are not enough. From a practical standpoint, we still live at the mercy of the natural world. To solve the water crises of the future we may need to adapt the water ethos of our ancestors.

©2011 Brian Fagan (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Supplying intriguing historical background, Fagan well informs those pondering freshwater's role in contemporary environmental problems." ( Booklist)

Comprehensive, but dry voice for a book about water

A very good historical overview looking at the many cultural uses and controls put on water. Despite the narrator, and at times the author's own voice that tends to explore more than draw a conclusion or bring about some conclusion to each section, the book travels back to prehistoric and mideval history uses of water. 3/5 overall, and would still recommend if the subject of ecological history, history of water management or similar, interests you as it does me.

Brilliant and amazing history of water. You’ll like it & be glad there are lots more books by professor Fagan on audible.

Read. Enjoy. Don’t be put off by the requirement that reviews be 15 words at least.

Reminder: Listen to the preview before purchase.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator's accent is highly distracting. His inability to say the word "resources" may be the most challenging part of the listen. I couldn't get past the first chapter. However the content seems like it would be a good listen with a alternative narrator.