A review by wiensill
The Three Ages of Water: Prehistoric Past, Imperiled Present, and a Hope for the Future by Peter Gleick

hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

2.5

First half of the book was very strong and interesting in terms of history and historical significance of water use. However, once it got to the present day, much of the analyses felt extremely short-sighted and over-simplified. Often, the author lamented that "developing countries" don't have adequate water infrastructure, and that they should just do it, but corruption or mismanagement is to blame... Not the fact that World Bank and IMF loans prioritize "economic development" (aka bringing foreign corporations in to exacerbate issues like water pollution, in the case of mining in South America and Southern Africa). Overall, it felt like the book lacked a strong understanding of how global politics actually work. That said, the solutions proposed are still fairly useful, but definitely require different implementation strategies that account for and address inequity in global politics.