# Rivers of Power: How a Natural Force Raised Kingdoms, Destroyed Civilizations, and Shapes Our World - Hardcover

by **Laurence C. Smith** (Author)

**An eye-opening, sometimes alarming, and ultimately inspiring natural history of rivers and their complex and ancient relationship with human civilization (Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of _The Sixth Extinction_).**

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 underappreciated relationship between rivers and civilization as we know it. Rivers are of course important in many practical ways (water supply, transportation, sanitation, etc). But the full breadth of their 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. And as climate change, technology, and cities transform our relationship with nature, new opportunities are arising to protect the waters that sustain us.

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 the future of humanity.  
**As fascinating as it is beautifully written.---Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of _Guns, Germs, and Steel_, _Collapse_, and _Upheaval_**  

### Author Biography

**Laurence 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.

**Number of Pages:** 368

**Dimensions:** 1.4 x 9 x 6.2 IN

**Illustrated:** Yes

**Publication Date:** April 21, 2020

## Details

- **Price:** 38.0 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 38.00 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Rivers of Power: How a Natural Force Raised Kingdoms, Destroyed Civilizations, and Shapes Our World - Hardcover

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