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Rivers of Power: How a Natural Force Raised Kingdoms, Destroyed Civilizations, and Shapes Our World
"This book about rivers is as fascinating as it's beautifully written."---Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel; Collapse; and Upheaval
A "fascinating, eye-opening, sometimes alarming, and ultimately inspiring" natural history of rivers and their complex and ancient relationship with human civilization (Elizabeth Kolbert).
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 vastly underappreciated relationship between rivers and civilization as we know it. Rivers are of course important in many practical ways (water supply, transportation, sanitation). But the full breadth of their profound 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.
Beautifully told and expansive in scope, Rivers of Power reveals how and why rivers have so profoundly influenced our civilization, and examines the importance this vast, arterial power holds for our present, past, and future.
A "fascinating, eye-opening, sometimes alarming, and ultimately inspiring" natural history of rivers and their complex and ancient relationship with human civilization (Elizabeth Kolbert).
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 vastly underappreciated relationship between rivers and civilization as we know it. Rivers are of course important in many practical ways (water supply, transportation, sanitation). But the full breadth of their profound 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.
Beautifully told and expansive in scope, Rivers of Power reveals how and why rivers have so profoundly influenced our civilization, and examines the importance this vast, arterial power holds for our present, past, and future.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published April 20, 2020
About the author
Laurence C. Smith
5 books12 followersLaurence C. Smith is the John Atwater and Diana Nelson University Professor of Environmental Studies and Professor of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences at Brown University. Previously, he was Professor and Chair of Geography at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and of the John S. Guggenheim Foundation, and his scientific research has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post, and on NPR, CBC Radio, and BBC, among others. His first book, The World in 2050, won the Walter P. Kistler Book Award and was a Nature Editor’s Pick of 2012.
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March 28, 2024
There is a vast arterial power humming all around us, hiding in plain sight. It has shaped our civilization more than any road, technology, or political leader. It has opened frontiers, founded cities, settled borders, and fed billions. It promotes life, forges peace, grants power, and capriciously destroys everything in its path. Increasingly domesticated, even manacled, it is an ancient power that rules us still.----------------------------------------
…not only are we humans an urban species, we are also a river species. Indeed nearly two thirds (63 percent) of the total world population lives within 20 kilometers of a large river Some 84 percent of the world’s large cities…are located along a large river. For the world’s megacities the number rises to 93 percent.We are river people, most of us anyway, although we may or may not be aware of it. The places where we live, work, and gplay tend to center around our streaming waterways. Even settlements at the coast of seas and oceans tend to be located where rivers empty into the larger bodies of water. As significant as light, land, breathable air, and tolerable temperature ranges, rivers have powered the development of homo sapiens from hunter-gatherer to space traveler. As with most things that underlay, and power our lives, I expect that most of us do not give our rivers much thought.
Laurence Smith - (looking suspiciously like the character Bernard Lowe of Westworld – we presume Smith is human) - image from Institute at Brown for Environment & Society
I grew up, as most of you probably did, near a river. At the breakfast table in our third-floor apartment in the Bronx, the morning light was so bright, so glaring that we had to pull down the shade in our single kitchen window. The golden beams came at us from the west, reflected off the windows of George Washington High School in Manhattan, across the Harlem River, which was about four blocks to the west. I never thought much about the river, although it was so close by. Unlike the morning glare, it was not directly visible from any of our windows, and was not in clear sight from most of the places I frequented.
In Rivers of Power, which could as easily have been titled The Power of Rivers, geographer Laurence Smith offers a drop of geological history on how they came to be, but focuses mostly on how rivers and humans have worked together throughout our shared time on Earth. His analysis cites the challenges rivers present to their neighbors, but mostly the benefits they offer, which he divides into five general categories, Access, Natural Capital, Territory, Well-Being, and Means of Projecting Power. He then looks at major rivers of the world through this quintuple lens to broaden and deepen our appreciation for this very necessary, but sometimes unseen partner.
The Sherman Creek Generating Station on the Harlem River, the Hudson River visible at top – image from Hidden Waters blog
The river was bordered on the Bronx side by Penn Central tracks, accessible through holes nicely cut in chain-link fences. It was a good place to tape coins to tracks allowing rolling stock the chance to flatten and stretch them to the delight of wastrel urchins. The most frequent floating stock I recall passing by just beyond the tracks consisted of barges loaded with coal for a local powerplant.
A Nilometer on Rhoda Island, Cairo – image from Wikipedia
It will come as no great surprise that the first great societies in human history arose around rivers. You will know about early Mesopotamia on the Tigris and Euphrates, and Egypt on the Nile. But you may not know about another that far pre-dated both, the Harappan civilization of the Indus and Ghaggar Hakra river valleys. It is one of the great joys of this book that it brings to light such nuggets of information that were completely new, well, to me, anyway. I had never before heard, for example, of a nilometer (see image above), a significant tool used by Egyptian leaders. It allowed those in charge to see the clarity of the water and depth of the river at a given moment and thus be prepared for excessive or insufficient annual flooding of the Nile River Valley, with huge implications for the harvest to come.
Guns along the Hudson - Saratoga Battlefield - my shot
Laurence looks at how civilizations grew up along rivers. There are obvious advantages, from fresh water for drinking and cleaning to irrigation, from transportation to military defense. While rivers provided water for community needs, and as technology progressed, could be used to power waterwheels and cool manufactories, they were also a tool that could be used by those upriver for political and/or military advantage. A nation, or community located upriver could divert so much of the river’s water that a downstream community could find its crucial resource seriously diminished or totally gone, and, in addition, the disadvantage of being downstream from polluters. Rivers allow for the emplacement of forts and armaments that could protect a community from a naval invasion, and offer highways on which raiders could attack poorly defended communities (think Vikings).
The Ganges - image from Encyclopedia Britannica - © Jedraszak/iStock.com
But there are many other ways that rivers impact our lives, and have done so for as long as there have been people living in communities. They have served as a focal point for religious practices. The Ganges is used as a site into which Hindus deliver the cremated remains of their dead. The river Jordan was a memorable site in Christian lore as the place where Jesus was baptized, and today rivers are still often used in baptismal rites. And let us not forget underground waterways in myth, like the Rivers Styx, Acheron, and Lethe.
River as judge-and-jury has a place in history too, not necessarily a good place. In the Hammurabi Code, for instance, a charge of sorcery was adjudicated by tossing the accused (one wonders if a local rat-bastard accused some poor schmo of turning him into a newt) into the Euphrates. If the newly dunked swims to shore, not guilty. If the accused drowns, oh, well. (that turning people into a newt thing would have really come in handy). I expect there are probably books to be written (undoubtedly some already have been) about rivers, real and imagined, in religion, literature, and mythology. Smith touches on this in this book, but it is not a major focus.
I had a small unfortunate intersection with the Harlem as a young man. A friend and I were at the water’s edge, very close to the Washington Heights Bridge. I was there helping him clean his car, at some point in the late 60s, on a summer afternoon. I availed of a very lengthy bit of rope that some daring soul had tethered to the underside of the bridge. There was a knot at the bottom, but I did not have the firmest grip on the rope with my hands or on the knot with any other body parts, and my arm strength not being what I might have hoped, I soon found myself swinging out over the Harlem River, for a brief bit of fun, then desperately plunging toward the water as my grip gave way. I can’t say it was awful, no body parts or other unspeakables floated past, but it was not considered an ideal bathing venue, so I swam back to shore, soaked, somewhat gritty, and mortified.
Smith offers a considerable survey of what is happening in the great rivers of the world today, physically and politically. The great dam building that is going on echoes the burst of dam building that took place in the early-mid twentieth century in the West. When the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), across the Blue Nile, was completed in 2022, it became the largest hydroelectric plant in Africa. The Three Gorges Dam in China, across the Yangtze, achieved a generating capacity of 22,500 megawatts when it was finally finished. It has also required the displacement of over a million people and has caused significant ecological damage. Many older dams in the west are being taken down, with an eye to reviving stifled ecological systems.
The Three Gorges Dam - as of 2009 – image from Wikipedia
Not very far west the Hudson offered a much grander vista, and probably cleaner swimming, although it would take some years before environmentalists, led by Pete Seeger, forced a river cleanup. The view from the train on the Hudson Line, of what is now Metro North, is ta-die-faw. The Palisades formation on the western side of the Hudson was and remains magnificent, particularly celestial in its autumnal finery. The view is even better at the more leisurely pace afforded by the Day Line cruise from the western piers of midtown Manhattan up-river to places like Bear Mountain Park and West Point. This was a most welcome respite for someone who had experienced worlds that were not entirely composed of brick and concrete only on day trips in summer camp.
There has been considerable change in the use of river-front land in cities across the world. Rotting piers of earlier mercantile and industrial ages have given way to increasing development of waterside property for high-priced residences, office towers, and commercial spaces, AND for public use. Smith points out the history of law that preserves riverine access for all. It has certainly been far from universally applied. But today, most major world cities have been working to make their rivers accessible to the general public. As people become more urbanized, the need, and yes, it is a need for most, for exposure to the outdoors, for a connection to nature, can be satisfied at least somewhat by walks along or other activities in riverfront parks.
There came a time when my ancient car still ran, when I could still drive to work in Queens late at night, and drive (if you can call the stop-and-go nightmare of NYC rush hour traffic driving) home to Brooklyn in the morning. But on Sunday mornings, after my overnight shift, I went elsewhere. Eventually I would diversify, but for a while I would tote my digital SLR to Brooklyn Bridge Park, and environs, to shoot urban landscapes, as the more remote ones were no longer within my means. The need to shoot was powerful, but equally as strong was the comfort to be had in being in a place where the East River was coursing under a series of bridges, on it’s way to meeting up with the outflow of the Hudson en route to the Atlantic. It was an idyllic time of day to be there, early morning, as the sun rose, or soon after. Floods of tourists have yet to arrive. A trickle of joggers trot past. Winter is best for relative solitude there. I told my son once that seeing the beauty of such places, whether urban or wilderness, filled me with a kind of transcendental joy that seemed to my atheistic self something like religion. “Why something like?” he asked. Why indeed.
While most of my BB Park shots were taken early in the morning, I did manage an evening outing there once or twice.
Smith concludes by looking ahead at what amazing new tech promises for the future, and for what global warming portends for rivers. Advances in coming technology, particularly small hydro power installations, amelioratives like a project planned for New Orleans, Los Angeles working on finding new sources of fresh water, new satellite swarms that allow incredibly greater monitoring of earthly waterflows and conditions.
I cannot say that I have any real gripes about the book. It is well-written and informative, presenting a wealth of information about the history of humanity’s relationship with rivers, and explaining how rivers have helped found and shape civilizations. It will definitely remind you of Jared Diamond’s work. Not a gripe, but I do enjoy a bit of levity in non-fiction. I guess it serves a similar purpose to comic relief in dramas. No danger of running into that here. Still, Rivers of Power will get your gray cells flashing, and maybe push you to think a bit about the river that is nearest you now or the river you recall from when you were growing up. Instead of memory lane, it might be more like memory creek.
Today it is bedrock legal principle across the globe that rivers cannot be owned. Even in countries with strong capitalist traditions, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, rivers are a class apart, reserved for the public good. This puts rivers in a category distinctly different from other natural resources. It is extremely common for land, trees, minerals, and water from other natural sources (e.g. springs, ponds, aquifers) to be deemed private property. Rivers, air, and oceans, however, are treated very differently.
Review first posted – March 20, 2020
Publication date – April 21, 2020
==========In the summer of 2019 GR reduced the allowable review size by 25%, from 20,000 to 15,000 characters. In order to accommodate the text beyond that I have moved it to the comments section directly below.
April 6, 2020
”A world without rivers would be unrecognizable to us. Our continents would be rugged, high, cold, and small. Our settlement pattern would have evolved in very different ways, with scattered farms and villages clinging to oases and coastlines. Wars would have proceeded differently, and the borders of nations would be unfamiliar. Our most famous cities would not exist. The global movements of people and trade that so define us today might never have happened.”
I grew up in North Central Kansas near the banks of a river; well, it was a creek, to be more precise. My ancestor who settled in Phillips County back in the 1880s could see the flowing water from his front porch. The family who built the house I grew up in camped by the creek while they cut chalk rock stones out of the ground to form the walls of their new home. A huge storm further upstream sent a wall of debris gnarled water coming at them with no warning. Several members of the family were swept downstream and drowned. Rivers are deadly, beautiful creatures.
I remember another time when I watched the creek jump its banks and swamp the rich bottomland where we grow alfalfa. To even calculate how deep the water must be to fill in all that lowland and climb the hill to lap at the doorstep of our neighbor was mind boggling. And then, one morning it started to recede, and just as quickly as it came, it flowed away leaving debris of dead trees and animals strewn across our land.
Whenever I look at this creek on a map, it is a squiggly line, following some nonsensical path across the terrain that makes the river much longer than the miles it stretches.
So when Little, Brown approached me about reading Rivers of Power by Laurence C. Smith, my first thought was not of the power of a river, but the power of a dappling creek that provided me with much pleasure and more than a few moments of fear.
I didn’t really know what to expect from this book, but soon discovered that Smith was leading me on a journey, not only up and down rivers, but also throughout history. He takes us to see a pair of Middle Bronze Age bridges in Greece that are over 3000 years old and still in use, to witness the power of the Nile that built one of the most amazing civilizations the world has ever seen, to experience the gut wrenching 1889 Johnstown flood in Pennsylvania that forever changed our laws on litigation, and flashed us backwards and forwards in time to the numerous river triggering points in history that turned out to be critical decisive moments.
There have been more than one Rubicon moment in history, more than one crossing of the Delaware, and too many moments like the commandeering of the Meuse River, heralding the invasion of France by the German Army in 1940.
The history of rivers is the history of the world.
Smith talks about the influence of dams as mankind attempts to harness the awesome power of rivers to create power. As America is slowly dismantling their smaller dams (yeah, let the rivers go!), Third World countries are beginning to build large dams to exert some control over their rivers. The most interesting case is the one being built in Ethiopia that, once finished, will require a long time for the massive reservoir to fill. Meanwhile, the Blue Nile will not be flowing at all up to Egypt. This will have devastating impacts on the economy of Egypt. The Egyptians managed to strangle any assistance for the dam from world banks. In response, the Ethiopian government went out to the people to ask for donations for building the dam, and it has been wildly successful. That part of this story is the feel good part of the tale.
The problem is, because there is no insisted oversight from a financial institute worried about protecting their investment, there have been questions about the structural integrity of the dam. Is it being built safely and with the best engineering science available? The government insists that the dam will be used to improve the lives of all Ethiopian, but there are doubts this will be the case. The enticements from neighboring countries to buy that power will be difficult for a cash strapped and often corrupt government to refuse. There are also worries that, as we close in on the date of the dam’s completion, the Egyptians will do more than just yell and threaten.
I’ve never really heard the term water tower except in reference to the steel towers that are in most cities across America with the name of the place emblazoned proudly on the round side of the water containment reservoir. ”Water tower, meaning a mountain range, typically surrounded by dry lowlands, that captures and funnels a very large amount of runoff into a major downstream river” helps to put the seizing of Tibet by China into better perspective for me. ”The grandest water tower of all is the Tibetan Plateau and Himalayan Range, which form the headwaters of the mighty Indes, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween, Mekong, Yangtze, and Yellow Rivers, upon which nearly half of all living people depend.”
China understands the importance of water, not only now but forever, as overpopulation continues to strain the ability of rivers and reservoirs to sustain the people of this planet.
Smith talks about pollution and informs me that I’ve been drinking (yuck) microbeads. They are tiny, solid, plastic beads in rinse-off skin care products used to exfoliate the skin that are so small that they pass through our water filtration systems. Fortunately, they were banned in 2017 by the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015, unless, of course, someone has rolled back that ban as they have with many other major EPA accomplishments by the Obama Administration. Smith also gives Richard Nixon (I know, don’t fall out of your chair) credit for being progressive on environmental standards. Nixon created the EPA, and someday the EPA will be returned to being a nonpolitical, save humankind organization, as it was intended.
There is much to learn and much to think about while reading Smith’s book. You will certainly have a greater appreciation for rivers and their impact on history. They are so much a part of our lives that they have almost become invisible, but they continue to shape our lives.
”There is a vast, arterial power humming all around us, hiding in plain sight. It has shaped our civilization more than any road technology, or political leader. It has opened frontiers, founded cities, settled borders, and fed billions. It promotes life, forges peace, grants power, and capriciously destroys everything in its path. Increasingly domesticated, even manacled, it is an ancient power that rules us still.”
I want to thank Little, Brown for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten and an Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/jeffreykeeten/
I grew up in North Central Kansas near the banks of a river; well, it was a creek, to be more precise. My ancestor who settled in Phillips County back in the 1880s could see the flowing water from his front porch. The family who built the house I grew up in camped by the creek while they cut chalk rock stones out of the ground to form the walls of their new home. A huge storm further upstream sent a wall of debris gnarled water coming at them with no warning. Several members of the family were swept downstream and drowned. Rivers are deadly, beautiful creatures.
I remember another time when I watched the creek jump its banks and swamp the rich bottomland where we grow alfalfa. To even calculate how deep the water must be to fill in all that lowland and climb the hill to lap at the doorstep of our neighbor was mind boggling. And then, one morning it started to recede, and just as quickly as it came, it flowed away leaving debris of dead trees and animals strewn across our land.
Whenever I look at this creek on a map, it is a squiggly line, following some nonsensical path across the terrain that makes the river much longer than the miles it stretches.
So when Little, Brown approached me about reading Rivers of Power by Laurence C. Smith, my first thought was not of the power of a river, but the power of a dappling creek that provided me with much pleasure and more than a few moments of fear.
I didn’t really know what to expect from this book, but soon discovered that Smith was leading me on a journey, not only up and down rivers, but also throughout history. He takes us to see a pair of Middle Bronze Age bridges in Greece that are over 3000 years old and still in use, to witness the power of the Nile that built one of the most amazing civilizations the world has ever seen, to experience the gut wrenching 1889 Johnstown flood in Pennsylvania that forever changed our laws on litigation, and flashed us backwards and forwards in time to the numerous river triggering points in history that turned out to be critical decisive moments.
There have been more than one Rubicon moment in history, more than one crossing of the Delaware, and too many moments like the commandeering of the Meuse River, heralding the invasion of France by the German Army in 1940.
The history of rivers is the history of the world.
Smith talks about the influence of dams as mankind attempts to harness the awesome power of rivers to create power. As America is slowly dismantling their smaller dams (yeah, let the rivers go!), Third World countries are beginning to build large dams to exert some control over their rivers. The most interesting case is the one being built in Ethiopia that, once finished, will require a long time for the massive reservoir to fill. Meanwhile, the Blue Nile will not be flowing at all up to Egypt. This will have devastating impacts on the economy of Egypt. The Egyptians managed to strangle any assistance for the dam from world banks. In response, the Ethiopian government went out to the people to ask for donations for building the dam, and it has been wildly successful. That part of this story is the feel good part of the tale.
The problem is, because there is no insisted oversight from a financial institute worried about protecting their investment, there have been questions about the structural integrity of the dam. Is it being built safely and with the best engineering science available? The government insists that the dam will be used to improve the lives of all Ethiopian, but there are doubts this will be the case. The enticements from neighboring countries to buy that power will be difficult for a cash strapped and often corrupt government to refuse. There are also worries that, as we close in on the date of the dam’s completion, the Egyptians will do more than just yell and threaten.
I’ve never really heard the term water tower except in reference to the steel towers that are in most cities across America with the name of the place emblazoned proudly on the round side of the water containment reservoir. ”Water tower, meaning a mountain range, typically surrounded by dry lowlands, that captures and funnels a very large amount of runoff into a major downstream river” helps to put the seizing of Tibet by China into better perspective for me. ”The grandest water tower of all is the Tibetan Plateau and Himalayan Range, which form the headwaters of the mighty Indes, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween, Mekong, Yangtze, and Yellow Rivers, upon which nearly half of all living people depend.”
China understands the importance of water, not only now but forever, as overpopulation continues to strain the ability of rivers and reservoirs to sustain the people of this planet.
Smith talks about pollution and informs me that I’ve been drinking (yuck) microbeads. They are tiny, solid, plastic beads in rinse-off skin care products used to exfoliate the skin that are so small that they pass through our water filtration systems. Fortunately, they were banned in 2017 by the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015, unless, of course, someone has rolled back that ban as they have with many other major EPA accomplishments by the Obama Administration. Smith also gives Richard Nixon (I know, don’t fall out of your chair) credit for being progressive on environmental standards. Nixon created the EPA, and someday the EPA will be returned to being a nonpolitical, save humankind organization, as it was intended.
There is much to learn and much to think about while reading Smith’s book. You will certainly have a greater appreciation for rivers and their impact on history. They are so much a part of our lives that they have almost become invisible, but they continue to shape our lives.
”There is a vast, arterial power humming all around us, hiding in plain sight. It has shaped our civilization more than any road technology, or political leader. It has opened frontiers, founded cities, settled borders, and fed billions. It promotes life, forges peace, grants power, and capriciously destroys everything in its path. Increasingly domesticated, even manacled, it is an ancient power that rules us still.”
I want to thank Little, Brown for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten and an Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/jeffreykeeten/
February 18, 2020
When telling the story of human history, we often tend to be blind to the environment. We tell the familiar stories of our culture, inventions, wars, and conquests, yet it is the immense power of the environment to shape and constrain human actions that is the fundamental force driving human history. (This is not to say that human history is entirely determined by nature, only that it is highly influenced and constrained by it to a degree that is often ignored.)
In Rivers of Power, geographer Laurence C. Smith claims that, of the environmental powers impacting humanity, it is the power of rivers that has, more than any other factor, shaped the course of human history, up to the present day.
The argument is compelling, considering that history’s first civilizations—Mesopotamia, Egypt, Harappan society, China—all arose within river valleys along major rivers (the Tigris, Euphrates, Nile, Indus, Yellow, and Yangtze rivers). This is no coincidence; the fertile soil provided by each river led to the development of agriculture and, for the first time, to the surplus of food.
As Smith points out, food surplus is the key to all other aspects of civilization. Without food surplus, you cannot free up people to pursue other non-food-production activities, such as artistic, philosophical, scientific, and engineering pursuits.
Further, the management of food surplus, along with the control and management of rivers (and of farming), requires highly developed mathematical and accounting skills, in addition to writing, thereby stimulating the development of these key disciplines. Further still, the administration of large scale irrigation projects requires a new political class, along with a military class to protect the resources of each civilization (and a priestly class to prophesy the future and appease the gods).
Without rivers, there is no large-scale farming, and without farming, there is no food surplus. Without food surplus, there is no possibility of the pursuits of civilization that are only made possible when people are freed from the pursuits of basic survival—hunting, gathering, and the fashioning of basic shelter.
And so we can begin to see the deep connection between rivers and civilization, and how, without rivers, civilization would likely not exist (or would look very different). Admittedly, the importance of rivers to early civilizations is not a new discovery; this is well known and documented in most accounts of human history. But the story usually ends there, ignoring the continued relevance and influence of rivers on the human story.
This is where Rivers of Power becomes a truly original and fascinating read. Smith chronicles several additional ways in which rivers influence societies, including their influence on political borders, their use and exploitation in times of war, their capability to destroy and disrupt societies through flooding, and the human impact on rivers from pollution and engineering projects. Smith even considers the psychological effects of rivers—and water and nature more generally—on mood and cognition.
If you’re a fan of either human or natural history, you’ll find plenty of thought-provoking material to reflect upon, for example, the great Mississippi flood of 1927 and its major and long-lasting political effects. Another example is how the ancient Romans viewed rivers, in legal terms, as public property for the benefit of the common good. As Smith notes, had the Romans taken a different view—and sought to privatize rivers—history would have looked far different. The book is filled with similarly interesting anecdotes regarding this fundamental interaction between nature, society, and politics.
Of course, if you insist on finding a flaw with the book, you might question whether the importance of rivers on the overall human story is slightly exaggerated. The back cover of the book states that “rivers, more than any road, technology, or political leader, have shaped the course of civilization.”
This is probably debatable. The reader may envision other factors of equal or greater significance to human evolution, such as fire, language, writing, or, on a more fundamental level, abstract thinking itself, without which the human control of rivers would have never been possible. But these types of debates are largely unproductive; we can simply accept Smith’s general point that rivers are majorly influential (and often ignored) without having to think they are the most influential or the only influential factor in the human story. Plenty of other books have been written about these other factors, which makes Rivers of Power a welcome addition.
The second criticism isn’t really a criticism but a recognition that nature’s influence doesn’t stop with rivers. If the reader buys into Smith’s argument—and recognizes the general power of the environment to shape human history—they may become curious as to how other geographical phenomena, like mountains, forests, deserts, fault lines, and coastlines, also impact humanity. If so, the reader may want to check out, after reading Rivers of Power, the books Origins: How Earth's History Shaped Human History by Lewis Dartnell and Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World by Tim Marshall.
As a final note, it’s worth pointing out that Smith is, stylistically, a great writer. Academic geography does not necessarily lend itself to lively writing, and this makes Smith’s writing, to me, all the more impressive. In addition to the interspersion of personal stories and interesting historical anecdotes, Smith is a skilled and evocative descriptive writer. To illustrate, I’ll end with a sample, taken from the introduction:
“Every earthquake, every landslide, every raging flood, marks just another little rumble in this ceaseless war between two ancient forces — plate tectonics and water — that are locked in combat for the shape of the world’s surface. Their war will continue for at least another 2.8 billion years or so, until our dying, expanding Sun boils away every last drop into steam.
Today, rivers struggle to carry their loads to the sea. They slide past hardened cities, yoked by dams, throttled by engineers, overlooked by most. Still, the rivers prevail. They will outlast us all. But we will not endure without them.”
Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
In Rivers of Power, geographer Laurence C. Smith claims that, of the environmental powers impacting humanity, it is the power of rivers that has, more than any other factor, shaped the course of human history, up to the present day.
The argument is compelling, considering that history’s first civilizations—Mesopotamia, Egypt, Harappan society, China—all arose within river valleys along major rivers (the Tigris, Euphrates, Nile, Indus, Yellow, and Yangtze rivers). This is no coincidence; the fertile soil provided by each river led to the development of agriculture and, for the first time, to the surplus of food.
As Smith points out, food surplus is the key to all other aspects of civilization. Without food surplus, you cannot free up people to pursue other non-food-production activities, such as artistic, philosophical, scientific, and engineering pursuits.
Further, the management of food surplus, along with the control and management of rivers (and of farming), requires highly developed mathematical and accounting skills, in addition to writing, thereby stimulating the development of these key disciplines. Further still, the administration of large scale irrigation projects requires a new political class, along with a military class to protect the resources of each civilization (and a priestly class to prophesy the future and appease the gods).
Without rivers, there is no large-scale farming, and without farming, there is no food surplus. Without food surplus, there is no possibility of the pursuits of civilization that are only made possible when people are freed from the pursuits of basic survival—hunting, gathering, and the fashioning of basic shelter.
And so we can begin to see the deep connection between rivers and civilization, and how, without rivers, civilization would likely not exist (or would look very different). Admittedly, the importance of rivers to early civilizations is not a new discovery; this is well known and documented in most accounts of human history. But the story usually ends there, ignoring the continued relevance and influence of rivers on the human story.
This is where Rivers of Power becomes a truly original and fascinating read. Smith chronicles several additional ways in which rivers influence societies, including their influence on political borders, their use and exploitation in times of war, their capability to destroy and disrupt societies through flooding, and the human impact on rivers from pollution and engineering projects. Smith even considers the psychological effects of rivers—and water and nature more generally—on mood and cognition.
If you’re a fan of either human or natural history, you’ll find plenty of thought-provoking material to reflect upon, for example, the great Mississippi flood of 1927 and its major and long-lasting political effects. Another example is how the ancient Romans viewed rivers, in legal terms, as public property for the benefit of the common good. As Smith notes, had the Romans taken a different view—and sought to privatize rivers—history would have looked far different. The book is filled with similarly interesting anecdotes regarding this fundamental interaction between nature, society, and politics.
Of course, if you insist on finding a flaw with the book, you might question whether the importance of rivers on the overall human story is slightly exaggerated. The back cover of the book states that “rivers, more than any road, technology, or political leader, have shaped the course of civilization.”
This is probably debatable. The reader may envision other factors of equal or greater significance to human evolution, such as fire, language, writing, or, on a more fundamental level, abstract thinking itself, without which the human control of rivers would have never been possible. But these types of debates are largely unproductive; we can simply accept Smith’s general point that rivers are majorly influential (and often ignored) without having to think they are the most influential or the only influential factor in the human story. Plenty of other books have been written about these other factors, which makes Rivers of Power a welcome addition.
The second criticism isn’t really a criticism but a recognition that nature’s influence doesn’t stop with rivers. If the reader buys into Smith’s argument—and recognizes the general power of the environment to shape human history—they may become curious as to how other geographical phenomena, like mountains, forests, deserts, fault lines, and coastlines, also impact humanity. If so, the reader may want to check out, after reading Rivers of Power, the books Origins: How Earth's History Shaped Human History by Lewis Dartnell and Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World by Tim Marshall.
As a final note, it’s worth pointing out that Smith is, stylistically, a great writer. Academic geography does not necessarily lend itself to lively writing, and this makes Smith’s writing, to me, all the more impressive. In addition to the interspersion of personal stories and interesting historical anecdotes, Smith is a skilled and evocative descriptive writer. To illustrate, I’ll end with a sample, taken from the introduction:
“Every earthquake, every landslide, every raging flood, marks just another little rumble in this ceaseless war between two ancient forces — plate tectonics and water — that are locked in combat for the shape of the world’s surface. Their war will continue for at least another 2.8 billion years or so, until our dying, expanding Sun boils away every last drop into steam.
Today, rivers struggle to carry their loads to the sea. They slide past hardened cities, yoked by dams, throttled by engineers, overlooked by most. Still, the rivers prevail. They will outlast us all. But we will not endure without them.”
Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
March 10, 2020
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is the sort of book which opens with a map of the world, with none of the national borders drawn in, but a great deal more of the rivers than one normally sees. This kind of map causes the continents to look more like living tissue, with blood vessels reaching to every part of them. It is a view of something familiar, made unfamiliar again by a river-centric perspective. This, is more or less the strategy of the book generally.
Perhaps inevitably, very near the beginning of the book we meet with ancient Egypt. Even more than Mesopotamia, ancient China, or the Cahokian civilization in North America, ancient Egypt was defined by its relationship with its primary river, the Nile. The ability to predict the seasonal floods of the Nile river was the basis for the authority and power of the priesthood and pharaohs, and they devoted considerable resources to keeping records of the height of the annual floods and how this related to crop yields.
From there, we go through essentially all of human history, a familiar enough story in some ways, but with a different focus, which leads to some discoveries if you are not encyclopedic in your historical knowledge. How it is, for example, that I made it through several high school and college courses in U.S. History without hearing about the flooding of the Mississippi River in the 20's, which led to Herbert Hoover becoming a nationally known figure (and thus soon after President), and also to the Republican Party losing the African American voter's loyalty (so far never regained)? It was similar in several ways to the flooding of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina, where the poorest (often black) residents were the most likely to be displaced. Because of the agricultural system, which relied on black sharecroppers, the displaced were not bused to other cities away from the flooding, but rather kept on site, nearby, under armed guard lest they leave, and perhaps never return. It was a final outrage in an outrageous system, and it led to a determined migration northward in the years that followed.
It is a common theme in this book that a river's periodic spasms, either flooding or avulsing, is a stress test for the society that lives near it, revealing its character (or lack of same). The constructing of dams, canals, irrigation systems, etc. requires an ability to cooperate, and all of these systems (as well as the society that built them) are tested when the waters rise. We hear examples from nearly every continent and millennium of human history. Plus, I got to learn the word "avulsing", which is when a river decides to change course semi-permanently.
Rivers are also a matter for great politics, either as borders between nations or the subject of disputes. Greater populations tend to grow up near the mouth of rivers, but this puts them necessarily at the mercy of smaller nations upstream, often in different nations, and we look at how this plays out in Asia, Africa, and North America.
Dam-building is also a matter of controversy. Power generation, flood control, impact on salmon runs which people depend on, etc. etc. It was interesting to read that the total number of dams in the developed world is going down now, as old dams that have reached the end of their life get demolished instead of rebuilt, while in the Third World they are still being built. We have, supposedly, learned some things about dam-building to help get the benefits while mitigating the impact, but the author takes an evenhanded approach to the question of whether that is enough to justify, say, the Three Gorges Dam project in China (currently the world's largest power station).
If I have any criticism of the book, it is about the last section, which relates to 21st century projects to revitalize riverfronts in major cities of the advanced economies. It is too chock full of stats and Proper Nouns For Development Projects. Perhaps the very newness of this trend prevents any general patterns from being discerned? How do these projects typically go? Do they accomplish what they set out to? Without any general pattern or plot, that chapter is more or less just a listing of project names, with a few paragraphs on each one that read more like a promotional brochure than a book.
But, this is a small part of the book, and at the very end, so it is not a deal-breaker. If you have an interest in human history, this is a good way of reading about it in a way which adds a new perspective on some old (in some cases, very old) stories.
This is the sort of book which opens with a map of the world, with none of the national borders drawn in, but a great deal more of the rivers than one normally sees. This kind of map causes the continents to look more like living tissue, with blood vessels reaching to every part of them. It is a view of something familiar, made unfamiliar again by a river-centric perspective. This, is more or less the strategy of the book generally.
Perhaps inevitably, very near the beginning of the book we meet with ancient Egypt. Even more than Mesopotamia, ancient China, or the Cahokian civilization in North America, ancient Egypt was defined by its relationship with its primary river, the Nile. The ability to predict the seasonal floods of the Nile river was the basis for the authority and power of the priesthood and pharaohs, and they devoted considerable resources to keeping records of the height of the annual floods and how this related to crop yields.
From there, we go through essentially all of human history, a familiar enough story in some ways, but with a different focus, which leads to some discoveries if you are not encyclopedic in your historical knowledge. How it is, for example, that I made it through several high school and college courses in U.S. History without hearing about the flooding of the Mississippi River in the 20's, which led to Herbert Hoover becoming a nationally known figure (and thus soon after President), and also to the Republican Party losing the African American voter's loyalty (so far never regained)? It was similar in several ways to the flooding of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina, where the poorest (often black) residents were the most likely to be displaced. Because of the agricultural system, which relied on black sharecroppers, the displaced were not bused to other cities away from the flooding, but rather kept on site, nearby, under armed guard lest they leave, and perhaps never return. It was a final outrage in an outrageous system, and it led to a determined migration northward in the years that followed.
It is a common theme in this book that a river's periodic spasms, either flooding or avulsing, is a stress test for the society that lives near it, revealing its character (or lack of same). The constructing of dams, canals, irrigation systems, etc. requires an ability to cooperate, and all of these systems (as well as the society that built them) are tested when the waters rise. We hear examples from nearly every continent and millennium of human history. Plus, I got to learn the word "avulsing", which is when a river decides to change course semi-permanently.
Rivers are also a matter for great politics, either as borders between nations or the subject of disputes. Greater populations tend to grow up near the mouth of rivers, but this puts them necessarily at the mercy of smaller nations upstream, often in different nations, and we look at how this plays out in Asia, Africa, and North America.
Dam-building is also a matter of controversy. Power generation, flood control, impact on salmon runs which people depend on, etc. etc. It was interesting to read that the total number of dams in the developed world is going down now, as old dams that have reached the end of their life get demolished instead of rebuilt, while in the Third World they are still being built. We have, supposedly, learned some things about dam-building to help get the benefits while mitigating the impact, but the author takes an evenhanded approach to the question of whether that is enough to justify, say, the Three Gorges Dam project in China (currently the world's largest power station).
If I have any criticism of the book, it is about the last section, which relates to 21st century projects to revitalize riverfronts in major cities of the advanced economies. It is too chock full of stats and Proper Nouns For Development Projects. Perhaps the very newness of this trend prevents any general patterns from being discerned? How do these projects typically go? Do they accomplish what they set out to? Without any general pattern or plot, that chapter is more or less just a listing of project names, with a few paragraphs on each one that read more like a promotional brochure than a book.
But, this is a small part of the book, and at the very end, so it is not a deal-breaker. If you have an interest in human history, this is a good way of reading about it in a way which adds a new perspective on some old (in some cases, very old) stories.
April 29, 2020
I've never been entirely convinced that geography is really a science, but if there was a book that was likely to do so, it's Rivers of Power. What's more, Laurence Smith manages to bring alive the importance of rivers to the Earth, but more particularly to humanity, with some excellent storytelling.
The book starts with a nilometer, an ancient structure for measuring the height of the Nile - and the role the Nile has played in Egyptian culture. From here we open out to a whole host of rivers around the world. Rather than focus chapter by chapter on particular locales, Smith leaps from place to place, covering the roles of rivers in, say, wars or trade or climate change. In doing so, he manages to communicate his enthusiasm and a feeling of engagement that makes the book both approachable and enjoyable. There's always something new and different turning up - no one, surely, would expect, for example, a chapter to begin with a discussion of the superhero movie Black Panther, using the fictional nation of Wakanda as a lead into a section on Ethiopia.
I was concerned that there wouldn't be much science in the book, but in practice there is a fair amount, both in the description of the geological mechanisms and in the scientific approach used in the investigations of rivers in the associated stories. I do think the blurb goes too far in saying 'our quest for mastery [of rivers] has spurred staggering advances in engineering, science and law' - I take the point about engineering and to some extent law, but I can't think of a single fundamental scientific discovery that is related to our quest for mastery of rivers.
Because rivers are so personal, I was slightly disappointed there wasn't much mention of the UK, but this is a book that's very much about the world view. So we see a lot from the big rivers of the world and rather less from the smaller, more intimate rivers that have still had big parts to play in local lives. Even so, the book rarely disappoints.
I can't say this book has totally converted me to the cause of geography - but as a one-off, it's certainly a recommended read.
The book starts with a nilometer, an ancient structure for measuring the height of the Nile - and the role the Nile has played in Egyptian culture. From here we open out to a whole host of rivers around the world. Rather than focus chapter by chapter on particular locales, Smith leaps from place to place, covering the roles of rivers in, say, wars or trade or climate change. In doing so, he manages to communicate his enthusiasm and a feeling of engagement that makes the book both approachable and enjoyable. There's always something new and different turning up - no one, surely, would expect, for example, a chapter to begin with a discussion of the superhero movie Black Panther, using the fictional nation of Wakanda as a lead into a section on Ethiopia.
I was concerned that there wouldn't be much science in the book, but in practice there is a fair amount, both in the description of the geological mechanisms and in the scientific approach used in the investigations of rivers in the associated stories. I do think the blurb goes too far in saying 'our quest for mastery [of rivers] has spurred staggering advances in engineering, science and law' - I take the point about engineering and to some extent law, but I can't think of a single fundamental scientific discovery that is related to our quest for mastery of rivers.
Because rivers are so personal, I was slightly disappointed there wasn't much mention of the UK, but this is a book that's very much about the world view. So we see a lot from the big rivers of the world and rather less from the smaller, more intimate rivers that have still had big parts to play in local lives. Even so, the book rarely disappoints.
I can't say this book has totally converted me to the cause of geography - but as a one-off, it's certainly a recommended read.
March 10, 2024
Subintitulat „Cum o forță a naturii a clădit regate, a distrus civilizații și ne modelează lumea în care trăim”, volumul lui Laurence C. Smith (profesor de științe și de mediu la Universitatea Brown) poate fi privit și citit chiar pe aceste trei paliere din subtitlu.
De departe, cele mai interesante părți ale cărții sunt cele cu profil istoric, respectiv geografic - multe informații inedite și binevenite despre influența apei și a fluviului asupra marilor civilizații ale trecutului, fie că vorbim despre Nil și Egiptul Antic, despre Yangtze și Fluviul Galben și importanța acestora asupra tuturor civilizațiilor din China antică sau modernă sau despre Tigru și Eufrat. Marile civilizații s-au clădit pe lângă ape și chiar dacă marile orașe se construiesc și în prezent pe țărmuri, acestea sunt mai apropiate de apele dulci (mai ales de delte) decât de cele sărate. Cea de-a treia parte a volumului - modelarea lumii de către fluvii - nu este atât de interesantă, fiind bazată mai mult pe date tehnice, pe diferite campanii ecologice și organizații de profil hidrologic americane, așa că un cititor dornic doar de a-și îmbunătăți cultura generală geografică și istorică își poate pierde interesul. Totuși, un volum bun despre apele care ne-au influențat istoria.
De departe, cele mai interesante părți ale cărții sunt cele cu profil istoric, respectiv geografic - multe informații inedite și binevenite despre influența apei și a fluviului asupra marilor civilizații ale trecutului, fie că vorbim despre Nil și Egiptul Antic, despre Yangtze și Fluviul Galben și importanța acestora asupra tuturor civilizațiilor din China antică sau modernă sau despre Tigru și Eufrat. Marile civilizații s-au clădit pe lângă ape și chiar dacă marile orașe se construiesc și în prezent pe țărmuri, acestea sunt mai apropiate de apele dulci (mai ales de delte) decât de cele sărate. Cea de-a treia parte a volumului - modelarea lumii de către fluvii - nu este atât de interesantă, fiind bazată mai mult pe date tehnice, pe diferite campanii ecologice și organizații de profil hidrologic americane, așa că un cititor dornic doar de a-și îmbunătăți cultura generală geografică și istorică își poate pierde interesul. Totuși, un volum bun despre apele care ne-au influențat istoria.
August 2, 2022
This book by a physical geographer who I have not heard of before (though I am also a geographer) explores the history and influence of rivers over time and in our daily lives. Smith brings out the big picture, while also giving many interesting examples to highlight his various themes. A very readable book that helps us understand this natural phenomenon well.
Read
December 30, 2023This made me so emotional I love rivers and water so much
April 6, 2024
Fascinating book taking you back to the origins of civilisations, through to implications for warfare, political drivers of dams and present day housing developments along riversides.
December 9, 2021
I had hoped that this book would be about how rivers shaped politics and economics of world history. Instead, this is a book on the conservation of riparian ecosystems, which is fine, just not what the subtext claims it to be
The books is basically broken down into the following sections:
Very brief acknowledgement that ancient civilizations used rivers.
Longer section on late nineteenth and twentieth century politics surrounding rivers. Could basically be summed up as "humans are consistently jerks to each other".
Similarly sized section about hydrological engineering and conservation efforts, overlayed with an air of imminent doom brought on by the frequently mentioned "10 billion people by 2050" projection. I have nothing against this section, except that this was not what the book purported to be. Also, I find it interesting that he bandies about the 10 billion people projection but only alludes to the projected population decline by the end of the century once in passing (he references a population with a higher percentage of elderly, which is a tacit acknowledgement of a lower birth rate). Certainly the next thirty years are definitely important and we should do everything in our power to negate our impact on the natural world, but I have a hard time buying into the doom and gloom he projects, as that seems like only half the projections of the future.
Overall I don't regret reading it, but I wish it had said it was a book on water conservation instead of a book on political science as told through the lense of rivers.
The books is basically broken down into the following sections:
Very brief acknowledgement that ancient civilizations used rivers.
Longer section on late nineteenth and twentieth century politics surrounding rivers. Could basically be summed up as "humans are consistently jerks to each other".
Similarly sized section about hydrological engineering and conservation efforts, overlayed with an air of imminent doom brought on by the frequently mentioned "10 billion people by 2050" projection. I have nothing against this section, except that this was not what the book purported to be. Also, I find it interesting that he bandies about the 10 billion people projection but only alludes to the projected population decline by the end of the century once in passing (he references a population with a higher percentage of elderly, which is a tacit acknowledgement of a lower birth rate). Certainly the next thirty years are definitely important and we should do everything in our power to negate our impact on the natural world, but I have a hard time buying into the doom and gloom he projects, as that seems like only half the projections of the future.
Overall I don't regret reading it, but I wish it had said it was a book on water conservation instead of a book on political science as told through the lense of rivers.
November 26, 2021
Misleading subtitle.
Has nothing whatsoever about rivers creating kingdoms, and hardly anything about them destroying civilizations.
If you want to read about a man visiting sewage treatment plants instead of reading details of, for example, the Yellow River repeatedly changing course, this is the book for you. His story telling is more meandering than the Mississippi. For example, he starts writing about Sputnik, US spy satellites etc for two pages. Then he finally starts discussing satellite images of rivers, the first time it becomes clear why he is going on about satellites in a book allegedly about rivers. This book is mostly like this, contemporary issues loosely tied in with rivers. Sometimes it's straight out irrelevant to rivers. The recent Mississippi floods he described weren't caused by anything inherent to the river. They were caused by five feet of rain falling in a short time period. Any low lying area of land would be likely to flood, river or not. This sloppy thinking fits with the random collection of topics in this book.
Page 208 has great publicity for a landscape architecture company, which is specifically named. I find it offensive to end up paying for advertising material.
Would have liked to give it zero stars.
Has nothing whatsoever about rivers creating kingdoms, and hardly anything about them destroying civilizations.
If you want to read about a man visiting sewage treatment plants instead of reading details of, for example, the Yellow River repeatedly changing course, this is the book for you. His story telling is more meandering than the Mississippi. For example, he starts writing about Sputnik, US spy satellites etc for two pages. Then he finally starts discussing satellite images of rivers, the first time it becomes clear why he is going on about satellites in a book allegedly about rivers. This book is mostly like this, contemporary issues loosely tied in with rivers. Sometimes it's straight out irrelevant to rivers. The recent Mississippi floods he described weren't caused by anything inherent to the river. They were caused by five feet of rain falling in a short time period. Any low lying area of land would be likely to flood, river or not. This sloppy thinking fits with the random collection of topics in this book.
Page 208 has great publicity for a landscape architecture company, which is specifically named. I find it offensive to end up paying for advertising material.
Would have liked to give it zero stars.
February 18, 2022
There's some good stuff in here, but it gets bogged down in the details. So much of it feels like "Here's an example of a thing. Now here are three more very similar examples that add little to the topic, but I did the research so I'm going to tell you anyway."
August 30, 2021
Humans interacting with rivers has been a part of our history since - well, likely before we could even write about it - and they certainly are under-appreciated overall. Rivers provide water for agriculture and for drinking. Rivers provided pathways through the wilderness - to other civilizations to trade or conquer. Smith focuses his examples on two: ancient Egyptian society revolved around the Nile and the annual inundation which sent nutrient-rich silt flooding across the land. And the powerful Yellow River of China which could do the same or be a conveyer of death for thousands as it flooded the land.
Of course, then we have to talk about the great dams - the enormous Three Gorges Dam which generates large amounts of electricity and protects the population further downriver from dangerous flooding but in turn, it also prevents the deposits of the nourishing silt for the farming communities. The numerous dams that are being constructed along the Mekong.
Then there is the GERD dam currently being built across the Blue Nile in Ethiopia and the consequences of it's enormous reservoir - it could literally take years to fill. Years in which the countries further downstream - Egypt and the Sudan along with others that take available water from the Nile Basin - would have their own allotment of water restricted. Supposedly, the countries are in negotiations but Ethiopia is more concerned with getting the dam built and selling electricity across the continent.
Then there is what we have done to the rivers themselves beyond the dams, the canals, the diversions and the bridges. Using them as dumping grounds for toxic chemicals, sewage and trash. Then there is the effects of water flowing over mine tailings and excessive fertilizer being washed downstream and creating dead zones in lakes, seas and the ocean.
There is even a section on climate change with Smith's own experiences on the Greenland glaciers and photos of the dazzling blue lakes that form from meltwater before disappearing down a hole and making its way to the ocean. That countries - like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh - whose rivers depend on Himalayan glacier melt (which is not being renewed) are facing decreasing discharge. That the rivers fed by all mountain streams - if not approaching peak water discharge - may have already passed it which means less water for power, for agriculture, for drinking and for the dilution of polluting effluents.
What really sparks some interest is what the future holds. The re-purposing of old harbor front and riverfront buildings into commercial and residential properties. The satellites that can watch and keep humanity informed on the minute details of river status - discharges as well as feeder stream status. Then there is what is being done with old dams that are showing their construction age as well as being silted up by sediment formerly carried by rivers. Many old dams are being slowly dismantled to let the river once again be free to make it's own way to its destination. Letting the fish once again move upstream into their own spawning grounds that may not have seen one of their species in decades. Water that is once again being allowed to seep slowly back into underground aquifers - certainly not at a rate that can replace the massive amounts being withdrawn but slowly cleansing the water. Flowing river water being used like the old fashioned waterwheels that would grind grain centuries ago can also be connected to microhydropower plants generating electricity for individual homes or small collections of buildings.
And of course, running water has also proven to have a positive impact on our own mental health providing a calming and soothing effect.
Overall interesting book that gives the reader a great deal to think about regarding the rivers that cover the land and how vital they are.
2021-178
Of course, then we have to talk about the great dams - the enormous Three Gorges Dam which generates large amounts of electricity and protects the population further downriver from dangerous flooding but in turn, it also prevents the deposits of the nourishing silt for the farming communities. The numerous dams that are being constructed along the Mekong.
Then there is the GERD dam currently being built across the Blue Nile in Ethiopia and the consequences of it's enormous reservoir - it could literally take years to fill. Years in which the countries further downstream - Egypt and the Sudan along with others that take available water from the Nile Basin - would have their own allotment of water restricted. Supposedly, the countries are in negotiations but Ethiopia is more concerned with getting the dam built and selling electricity across the continent.
Then there is what we have done to the rivers themselves beyond the dams, the canals, the diversions and the bridges. Using them as dumping grounds for toxic chemicals, sewage and trash. Then there is the effects of water flowing over mine tailings and excessive fertilizer being washed downstream and creating dead zones in lakes, seas and the ocean.
There is even a section on climate change with Smith's own experiences on the Greenland glaciers and photos of the dazzling blue lakes that form from meltwater before disappearing down a hole and making its way to the ocean. That countries - like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh - whose rivers depend on Himalayan glacier melt (which is not being renewed) are facing decreasing discharge. That the rivers fed by all mountain streams - if not approaching peak water discharge - may have already passed it which means less water for power, for agriculture, for drinking and for the dilution of polluting effluents.
What really sparks some interest is what the future holds. The re-purposing of old harbor front and riverfront buildings into commercial and residential properties. The satellites that can watch and keep humanity informed on the minute details of river status - discharges as well as feeder stream status. Then there is what is being done with old dams that are showing their construction age as well as being silted up by sediment formerly carried by rivers. Many old dams are being slowly dismantled to let the river once again be free to make it's own way to its destination. Letting the fish once again move upstream into their own spawning grounds that may not have seen one of their species in decades. Water that is once again being allowed to seep slowly back into underground aquifers - certainly not at a rate that can replace the massive amounts being withdrawn but slowly cleansing the water. Flowing river water being used like the old fashioned waterwheels that would grind grain centuries ago can also be connected to microhydropower plants generating electricity for individual homes or small collections of buildings.
And of course, running water has also proven to have a positive impact on our own mental health providing a calming and soothing effect.
Overall interesting book that gives the reader a great deal to think about regarding the rivers that cover the land and how vital they are.
2021-178
June 3, 2023
Ohne Wasser gibt es kein Leben, das machen die langen Dürreperioden der letzten Jahre deutlich. Aber Wasser nimmt auch Leben, wie Überschwemmungen und Tsunamis gezeigt haben. Der Umwelt- und Geowissenschaftler Laurence Smith wirft in seinem Buch einen Blick auf die großen Flüsse, die seit jeher unser Leben mitbestimmt haben. Viele große Städte wurden an Flüssen erbaut. Sie waren für die Menschen Handelsrouten und Transportwege. Viele von ihnen wurden irgendwann ihrem Zweck angepasst, wurden begradigt und mit Schleusen befahrbar gemacht, oft ohne Weit- oder Rücksicht auf die möglichen Folgen.
Laurence Smith beschreibt, wie Kulturen entlang der Flüsse entstanden und auch teilweise wieder verschwunden sind. Ihre Legenden und Sagen blieben erhalten und finden sich teilweise auch in anderen Regionen, die weit entfernt sind. Sind sie vielleicht über die Flüsse gewandert? Und woher kamen die Flüsse? Diese Frage wurde nie beantwortet.
Von je her wurden auch Konflikte auch an Flüssen entschieden. Flüsse sind nicht nur mächtig, sie haben auch Macht. Man kann das Wasser stauen und so die Menschen, die weiter unten wohnen, unter Druck setzen. Oder man kann den Weg zum Wasser reglementieren. Der Autor gibt zahlreiche Beispiele dazu, wie Flüsse gebraucht, aber auch missbraucht wurden.
Die Geschichte der Flüsse ist umfangreich, trotzdem fehlt mir persönlich etwas. Ich hätte mir mehr Blick auf aktuelle Ereignisse entlang der großen Ströme gewünscht darüber schreibt der Autor für meinen Geschmack zu wenig. Aber das ist eben nur einer der vielen Aspekte, die Laurence Smith in seinem Buch beleuchtet hat und ich denke, wenn ich mehr darüber erfahren will, muss ich auf andere Lektüre zurückgreifen. Trotz aller Informationen ist das Buch zu keiner Zeit langweilig und gibt einen guten ersten Blick auf die großen Flüsse und ihre Geschichte.
Laurence Smith beschreibt, wie Kulturen entlang der Flüsse entstanden und auch teilweise wieder verschwunden sind. Ihre Legenden und Sagen blieben erhalten und finden sich teilweise auch in anderen Regionen, die weit entfernt sind. Sind sie vielleicht über die Flüsse gewandert? Und woher kamen die Flüsse? Diese Frage wurde nie beantwortet.
Von je her wurden auch Konflikte auch an Flüssen entschieden. Flüsse sind nicht nur mächtig, sie haben auch Macht. Man kann das Wasser stauen und so die Menschen, die weiter unten wohnen, unter Druck setzen. Oder man kann den Weg zum Wasser reglementieren. Der Autor gibt zahlreiche Beispiele dazu, wie Flüsse gebraucht, aber auch missbraucht wurden.
Die Geschichte der Flüsse ist umfangreich, trotzdem fehlt mir persönlich etwas. Ich hätte mir mehr Blick auf aktuelle Ereignisse entlang der großen Ströme gewünscht darüber schreibt der Autor für meinen Geschmack zu wenig. Aber das ist eben nur einer der vielen Aspekte, die Laurence Smith in seinem Buch beleuchtet hat und ich denke, wenn ich mehr darüber erfahren will, muss ich auf andere Lektüre zurückgreifen. Trotz aller Informationen ist das Buch zu keiner Zeit langweilig und gibt einen guten ersten Blick auf die großen Flüsse und ihre Geschichte.
August 14, 2022
This is an excellent contribution to environmental nonfiction genre and includes some fascinating details about places not normally on western/American readers radar.
A melancholic note too on how seemingly the last undammed rivers in the world are now falling prey to massive engineering projects whose scale will counterbalance any improvements in environmental engineering made over the past century.
Though I agree to an extent with criticisms from others that the book meanders (much as a river does) from a central focus of socioeconomic benefits of rivers, I think it's a misguided gripe and a poor reason to give a bad rating.
While there isn't quite as much here on how specific rivers helped shaped today's megacities like the Hudson and New York, or the Thames and London, there is still quite a bit of insight on how rivers shaped societies then and now.
For those frustrated by the lack of contemporary analysis, as the book explains, the age when rivers (and canals) dictated population locations is over...with potentially disastrous consequences as the book also mentions. Major new population centers particularly in the southwest, unfettered by geographical boundaries, sprawl out at a rate that far exceeds their resources, most specifically water. One wonders if/when a reckoning is coming for Las Vegas, or Phoenix, or even Los Angeles (which the book talks about); future residents may have to choose between letter their utilities bill soar through the roof to pay for insane pipeline projects... Or maybe people will be incentivized to once again live where the water is
A melancholic note too on how seemingly the last undammed rivers in the world are now falling prey to massive engineering projects whose scale will counterbalance any improvements in environmental engineering made over the past century.
Though I agree to an extent with criticisms from others that the book meanders (much as a river does) from a central focus of socioeconomic benefits of rivers, I think it's a misguided gripe and a poor reason to give a bad rating.
While there isn't quite as much here on how specific rivers helped shaped today's megacities like the Hudson and New York, or the Thames and London, there is still quite a bit of insight on how rivers shaped societies then and now.
For those frustrated by the lack of contemporary analysis, as the book explains, the age when rivers (and canals) dictated population locations is over...with potentially disastrous consequences as the book also mentions. Major new population centers particularly in the southwest, unfettered by geographical boundaries, sprawl out at a rate that far exceeds their resources, most specifically water. One wonders if/when a reckoning is coming for Las Vegas, or Phoenix, or even Los Angeles (which the book talks about); future residents may have to choose between letter their utilities bill soar through the roof to pay for insane pipeline projects... Or maybe people will be incentivized to once again live where the water is
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 11, 2021
As I dove into this book (slowly, obviously) my mind kept reaching back to nearly countless days spent playing various computer games that simulate economics, exploration, & the growth of civilization: M.U.L.E., Seven Cities of Gold, Colonization, SimCity, Civilization I-VI, et cetera. It is almost always advantageous to start your settlement on the banks of a river. If you control a river then you can more easily dictate what happens in its watershed. Trade in primitive times (and later) is easiest along rivers. And on and on. Dr Smith does not disappoint here. I enjoyed his retelling of various historical stories with an eye toward rivers. I had no earthly idea that one of the precipitating events that pushed the Chinese populace away from the Nationalists in the 1940s was the decision to open up a dam and flood the countryside. Reading about how rivers yearn to transport their sediment most efficiently downstream was an eye-opener. How many more dam projects will need to fail before regions understand this? I write this review, of course, in a city founded upon a river. I live where the majority of humans do -- along a river, and near the coast. This was fascinating. I'd recommend it.
I rec'd an ARC in exchange for the possibility that I might write a review. It took me a while.
I rec'd an ARC in exchange for the possibility that I might write a review. It took me a while.
March 6, 2022
A good book, demonstrating the importance of rivers to mankind and their continued role on a changing planet. The author, Earth and Atmospheric Scientist Laurence C. Smith, makes a strong case for mankind as a “hydraulic” species, with close ties to the rivers, big and small, all around us. The first part of the book is a history of mankind from the perspective of rivers. Smith points out the importance of rivers to human development. This covers the entire span, from the “cradles of civilization” in the river valleys through to the modern use of rivers as energy sources and transportation lanes. Smith, applying physical science rigor to social science theory, uses a medley of data to point out the continued importance of rivers to sustain human civilization. The second part of the book expands on this importance by covering the effects of climate change and human engineering on rivers. Smith does not hesitate diving into the climate change discussion. Making an energetic case for preserving natural waterways. He provides useful recommendations, with an eye towards the need for sustaining the growth that rivers brought in the past. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to better understand the role of water in human history.
March 25, 2021
Dit boek beschrijft de invloed van rivieren op onze beschavingen, het ontstaan van grote steden , onze geschiedenis en de (wereld)economie. En dat op een zeer leesbare manier. Bij vlagen is het boek zelfs spannend te noemen. Ik heb het meest geleerd van de hoofdstukken, die de invloed van dammen, groot en klein, op de rivieren en hun directe omgeving uitleggen. Vooral de consequenties van b.v. de "three gorges dam" in China en de GERD (Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam) in de Blauwe Nijl. Dat laatste gebeurt nu, maar wij in het Westen hebben in het verleden natuurlijk ook enorme fouten gemaakt. Vooral met de waterhuishouding in b.v. Californie, maar ook in Europa. Smith geeft een groot aantal voorbeelden van pogingen om dit weer te herstellen. Niet eenvoudig. Ik vind hem aan het eind van het boek wat overoptimistisch met vooral alle enorme constructieprojecten aan de verschillende waterfronts van meerdere grote steden. Maar wie weet heeft hij gewoon gelijk.
November 19, 2022
I'm pretty sure I added Rivers of Power to my TBR after reading a list of top recommended non fiction books. I was immediately interested, because I grew up surrounded by rivers and lakes, and I wanted to know more about how they have affected human development.
This book covers a large variety of ways rivers have impacted the world. From geography and food development, to country boarders and mental health, rivers importance cannot be understated.
I had a hard time reading the physical version of this book, despite my interest in the subject. I found it well suited as an audiobook, in a familiar college lecture sort of way.
It was really interesting to learn about dams, and the effect they have on systems. It's a topic I'm going to need to read more about.
This book not only touches upon the water itself, but also the creatures who live with in it. I appreciated the care for the whole ecology.
This book covers a large variety of ways rivers have impacted the world. From geography and food development, to country boarders and mental health, rivers importance cannot be understated.
I had a hard time reading the physical version of this book, despite my interest in the subject. I found it well suited as an audiobook, in a familiar college lecture sort of way.
It was really interesting to learn about dams, and the effect they have on systems. It's a topic I'm going to need to read more about.
This book not only touches upon the water itself, but also the creatures who live with in it. I appreciated the care for the whole ecology.
June 22, 2020
A brief history of world civilizations through the perspective of great rivers. Unusual and enlightening. Water is essential to life on earth; flowing water can build and destroy human societies. Our recent history is full of examples where controlling water has had unintended disastrous consequences; new ways of dealing with rivers (tearing down dams or rebuilding abandoned industrial riverfront, for example) have had some initial marvelous results. Who knows where it will all lead?
Reading this sent me back to John McPhee's The Control of Nature with its description of the Army Corps of Engineers' attempts to control the mighty Mississippi. Highly recommend this book as well.
Reading this sent me back to John McPhee's The Control of Nature with its description of the Army Corps of Engineers' attempts to control the mighty Mississippi. Highly recommend this book as well.
March 13, 2022
An expansive and wide-ranging read that flings you around the globe whilst delivering an informative and engaging evaluation on how rivers have been essential for development across history.
A lot of what I knew already was enhanced in this book, or applied to new ways of geographical thinking, so as a Geography teacher I got a lot out of this in terms of enjoyment, fulfilment and intrigue. I greatly enjoyed some of the more nuanced influences that rivers have held, such as liability law in the USA or the chain reaction of dams and their impacts on sedimentation.
My only wish is that the book could have gone a little deeper into some of the aspects explored. Sometimes Smith only skimmed the surface of an aspect of river influence that sounded promising and interesting.
A lot of what I knew already was enhanced in this book, or applied to new ways of geographical thinking, so as a Geography teacher I got a lot out of this in terms of enjoyment, fulfilment and intrigue. I greatly enjoyed some of the more nuanced influences that rivers have held, such as liability law in the USA or the chain reaction of dams and their impacts on sedimentation.
My only wish is that the book could have gone a little deeper into some of the aspects explored. Sometimes Smith only skimmed the surface of an aspect of river influence that sounded promising and interesting.
April 13, 2022
This book was fascinating, and so informative, but I admit the chapter on data collection, and the chapter about urban rehabilitation/renewalleft me behind. Also, there were a lot of "biggest in the world," and weird ways of fractionating the population.
Written in 2017, many of the future projects he mentions have now come to pass. Others, which should have, especially in China, have probably been delayed due to the COVID Pandemic. I didn't follow up on it, though, so I'm not sure.
I was disappointed he didn't talk about Vienna and Venice, and their canal systems. Venice is technically fighting a battle with the ocean, but he spent a great deal of time on New Orleans, and their levee system, and it seems like both of these would have appro pro.
Written in 2017, many of the future projects he mentions have now come to pass. Others, which should have, especially in China, have probably been delayed due to the COVID Pandemic. I didn't follow up on it, though, so I'm not sure.
I was disappointed he didn't talk about Vienna and Venice, and their canal systems. Venice is technically fighting a battle with the ocean, but he spent a great deal of time on New Orleans, and their levee system, and it seems like both of these would have appro pro.
July 7, 2020
At times, this book was a bit too "U.S.A world-view" focused (especially the section regarding the Vietnam War) but overall I learned a ton and I think it ignited a love of geography that I didn't know I had. Or, not until I read this book did I realize the interdisciplinary potential of geography (history! science! economics! socio-cultural movements! anthropology!) and I am super excited about pursuing that further.
Recommend! And really cool to real while camping or exploring the great outdoors. I was reading this while traveling in Northern Canada and it gave me a lot of context as well as insight into topics I may have written off as boring if I hadn't.
Recommend! And really cool to real while camping or exploring the great outdoors. I was reading this while traveling in Northern Canada and it gave me a lot of context as well as insight into topics I may have written off as boring if I hadn't.
November 30, 2020
More of a grab bag of facts and stories about rivers than a sustained argument, but the facts are interesting. Smith explores the role of rivers in history and civilization, the effects of hydrology on the landscape and human society, and their proper care and feeding in an industrial age.
Smith’s descriptions of the current grand engineering projects in progress around rivers are fascinating, but after reading about the various unintended consequences of past river projects, also frightening. It’s pretty clear we don’t actually know what the hell we’re doing when we meddle with titanic natural forces, so good luck us.
Smith’s descriptions of the current grand engineering projects in progress around rivers are fascinating, but after reading about the various unintended consequences of past river projects, also frightening. It’s pretty clear we don’t actually know what the hell we’re doing when we meddle with titanic natural forces, so good luck us.
April 7, 2021
In my quest to better understand my spirituality I've been seeking scientific and historic writings on rivers. This book was perfect! Written by a hydrologist and river scientist, it covered ancient and modern history, physics, modern research, environmental impacts, and city planning. I learned a ton about how rivers function and the best part was that by the second half of the book he couldn't stop himself from writing about the opinions, wants, and needs of rivers. Animism much? Good book.
May 15, 2022
Could really be called 'Some stuff about rivers' or 'Why rivers are important'. If the book has a weakness its not having an overarching theme but that's not really the author's fault because rivers don't. Consistently interesting although for a European maybe refers to the US a bit too often, but I guess it's written with a US readership in mind. Other than that it does what it says on the tin - why rivers are important in terms of dams, water supply, borders, hydroelectricity, the environment (could have been more detail here methinks), conflict, urban planning, irrigation, etc
November 15, 2023
If you want to read a book about the history of rivers don't get this one unless you want to wade thru the rapids of historical opinion on political topics in other words diatribes. Some of them are real whoppers. One good one: "It’s impossible to imagine anyone in my own country [USA] for example, conceding a month of their salary to fund a power plant or any such public infrastructure.". Seriously? Currently Americans work 149 days or nearly FIVE months just to pay taxes -- not counting the utilities bills which is also supposedly rebuilding infrastructure.
July 13, 2023
While Smith’s meandering style takes some getting used to, the book does manage to make the reader aware of the large influence of rivers in the history of humanity. Smith jumps from historical, to political, to scientific uses of the river in a style that feels a bit too unstructured. However, once the reader finds the flow of the particular chapter in question, Smith’s prose takes off and the reader is able to tune into the powerful shaping force of rivers on human history and society.
December 31, 2020
Meandering widely, Rivers of Power is a captivating piece of environmental history that stands out for its excellent writing. See my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2020...
January 2, 2021
Very interesting. I did learn a lot about world history that I didn't know before (mostly just due to gaps in the US education system). It's a good global view on major events in human history that unfolded around rivers. Not an overly amazing book, but I would still recommend it if you're interested in earth science and world history!
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