Sunil Amrith

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An Environmental History of the Last 500 Years

The Burning Earth

Unruly Waters

Penguin Shop: 3 Clothbound Classics for £33

There is no disappointment here. Sunil Amrith consolidates his reputation for intellectual sophistication, a good historian's sensitivity to detail and a flare for large-scale tale-telling that produces work as page-turning as a novel... He handles the big questions fearlessly and elegantly, deploying oral history, a variety of archives and private collections and a properly global understanding...Read this book for information, for convincing analytic nuance, as a humbling shake-up of one's worldview, and as a series of heart-stopping tales.

Praise for CROSSING THE BAY OF BENGAL: Caroline Osella

In refocusing on the Bay and restoring a Braudelian sweep to its history, this nicely written and meticulously researched study could prove as timely as it is instructive.

Praise for CROSSING THE BAY OF BENGAL: John Keay

How Mountain Rivers and Monsoons Have Shaped South Asia's History

Asia's history has been shaped by its waters. In Unruly Waters, historian Sunil Amrith reimagines Asia's history through the stories of its rains, rivers, coasts, and seas - and of the weather-watchers and engineers, mapmakers and farmers who have sought to control them. Looking out from India, he shows how dreams and fears of water shaped visions of political independence and economic development, provoked efforts to reshape nature through dams and pumps, and unleashed powerful tensions within and between nations. 
 
Today, Asian nations are racing to construct hundreds of dams in the Himalayas, with dire environmental impacts; hundreds of millions crowd into coastal cities threatened by cyclones and storm surges. In an age of climate change, Unruly Waters is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand not only Asia's past and its future.

A bold new perspective on the history of South Asia, telling its story through its climate, and the long quest to tame its waters 
 
South Asia's history has been shaped by its waters. In Unruly Waters, historian Sunil Amrith reimagines this history through the stories of its rains, rivers, coasts, rivers and seas - and of the weather-watchers and engineers, mapmakers and farmers who have sought to control them. He shows how fears and dreams of water have, throughout South Asia, shaped visions of political independence and economic development, provoked efforts to reshape nature through dams and pumps, and unleashed powerful tensions within and between nations. 
 
Every year humans have watched with overwhelming anxiety for the nature of that year's monsoon to be revealed, with entire populations living or dying on the outcome. From the first small weather-reporting stations to today's satellites, the modern battle both to understand and manage water has literally been a matter of life or death. 
 
Today, Asian nations are racing to construct hundreds of dams in the Himalayas, with dire environmental impacts; hundreds of millions crowd into coastal cities threatened by cyclones and storm surges. In an age of climate change, this highly original work of history is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand not only Asia's past but its future.

Sunil Amrith is the Renu and Anand Dhawan Professor of History and professor in the School of the Environment at Yale University. He is the author of four books, and a recipient of multiple awards including a MacArthur “Genius” fellowship and the 2024 Fukuoka Prize for outstanding achievements in the field of Asian studies. He grew up in Singapore and lives in Connecticut.

Unruly Waters

How Mountain Rivers and Monsoons Have Shaped South Asia's History

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In refocusing on the Bay and restoring a Braudelian sweep to its history, this nicely written and meticulously researched study could prove as timely as it is instructive.

About Sunil Amrith

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