Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by kennnedyexe
Water: A Biography by Giulio Boccaletti
2.0
It was okay... this is just a high school "world history" textbook-- complete with the single chapter of lip service to "mandate of heaven" Ancient China and reams and reams of Greek and Roman fixation. When I was a sophomore in high school I would've found this fascinating just by virtue of the fact that I had never been exposed to ANYTHING yet. It's fine to follow the traditional western canon of obsessions and selective focus/blindness if that happens to be your niche, but don't pretend to be comprehensive. Just call it what it is. Western empire fop material. I love classical studies! I read Anne Carson and Mary Beard religiously. It's not "world history" if it only focuses on the Mediterranean until the establishment of the American empire, when it sharply switches lens to predictably, America as the center of the western canon. Interesting enough from that angle, but far, far, far from inclusive and lightyears from comprehensive.
Additionally, similarly to a hastily written high school paper, the premise of the book didn't really seem to have much bearing on the actual content aside from the extremely repetitive introduction and "thesis" points of each section. The rest of it was just, the typical laundry list of historical dates and figures and events without any angle or argument to be seen. I suppose I was just expected "to be thinking about water" while I re-read my textbook.
Additionally, similarly to a hastily written high school paper, the premise of the book didn't really seem to have much bearing on the actual content aside from the extremely repetitive introduction and "thesis" points of each section. The rest of it was just, the typical laundry list of historical dates and figures and events without any angle or argument to be seen. I suppose I was just expected "to be thinking about water" while I re-read my textbook.