Unruly Waters

'An enthralling, elegantly written and, ultimately, profoundly alarming history' Economist

A bold new perspective on the history of South Asia, telling its story through its climate, and the long quest to tame its waters

South Asia's history has been shaped by its waters. In Unruly Waters,historian Sunil Amrith reimagines this history through the stories ofits rains, rivers, coasts, rivers and seas - and of the weather-watchersand engineers, mapmakers and farmers who have sought to control them.He shows how fears and dreams of water have, throughout South Asia,shaped visions of political independence and economic development,provoked efforts to reshape nature through dams and pumps, and unleashedpowerful tensions within and between nations.

Every year humanshave watched with overwhelming anxiety for the nature of that year'smonsoon to be revealed, with entire populations living or dying on theoutcome. From the first small weather-reporting stations to today'ssatellites, the modern battle both to understand and manage water hasliterally been a matter of life or death.

Today, Asian nationsare racing to construct hundreds of dams in the Himalayas, with direenvironmental impacts; hundreds of millions crowd into coastal citiesthreatened by cyclones and storm surges. In an age of climate change,this highly original work of history is essential reading for anyoneseeking to understand not only Asia's past but its future.