Heart of dryness

the long version

The Bushmen of the Kalahari provide a cautionary tale about water in the 21st century--and offer unexpected solutions for our time. Author James G. Workman chronicles the saga of the Bushmen--remnants of one of the world's most successful cultures, today at the epicenter of Africa's drought--in their widely publicized recent battle with the government of Botswana, in the process of exploring the larger story of what many feel has become the primary resource battleground of the 21st century: the supply of water. Each year, around the world, inadequate water kills more humans than AIDS, malaria, and wars combined. Global leaders pray for rain; Bushmen tap more pragmatic solutions. Workman illuminates the present and coming tensions we will all face over water and shows how, from the remoteness of the Kalahari, an ancient and resilient people is showing the world a viable path through the encroaching Dry Age.--From publisher description.