The Water Kingdom: A Secret History of China

A compelling and insightful secret history of China, *The Water Kingdom* by acclaimed science writer Philip Ball offers a fresh new way of thinking about a people, a civilization, and an epic story. This work takes readers on a grand journey through China's past and present, providing a unique window through which to grasp the overwhelming complexity and teeming energy of the country and its people. Water serves as a key that unlocks much of Chinese history and thought; the ubiquitous relationship that the Chinese people have had with water has made it an enduring metaphor for philosophical thought and artistic expression. From the Han emperors to Mao, the ability to manage the waters – to provide irrigation and defend against floods – became a barometer of political legitimacy, and attempts to do so have involved engineering works on a gigantic scale. Yet, the strain that economic growth is putting on its water resources today may be the greatest threat to China's future. *The Water Kingdom* is an epic, spell-binding story told through the eyes of travellers and explorers, poets and painters, bureaucrats and activists, who have themselves struggled to come to terms with living in a world so shaped and permeated by water. This is a paperback in good condition.

• Author: Ball, Philip
• Publisher: Bodley Head
• Year: 2016
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Good
• ISBN: 9781847923554