Mallet - River of Life, River of Death: The Ganges and Indias Future

An extraordinary and fascinating combination of history, geography, environment, politics, religion, and much more. This is a river of unsurpassed significance on the world stage, whose flow and life is traced from the Himalayas to the Sunderbans and the Bay of Bengal.

Nicholas Stern, IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government at LSE

To try and fathom the wonders and follies of India through a river is grand ambitionand Victor Mallet pulls it off!

Gurcharan Das, author of India Unbound and The Difficulty of Being Good.

In prose that is as sanguine and fluid as his subject, Victor Mallets River of Life, River of Death charts the course of the Ganges, the spiritual and material lifeline of northern India, through the vicissitudes of time, space, and the hubris of men. Rich in detail and sparkling with the insight of a trained observer, Mallets chronicle is an engaging and enlightening read.

Shashi Tharoor, Indian MP and author of Inglorious Empire

Masterfully combining fascinating history with acute observation of India today, River of Life, River of Death is brilliantly effective in its central argument - that the threats facing the Gangesfrom pollution, overpopulation, climate change, and often bad policiesare also the severest problems threatening India s progress. Mallet is at times brutally realistic about the prospects for rapid improvement, but passionately concerned that success must eventually be achieved. The result is a splendid and important book.

Adair Turner, Economist and Chair of the Energy Transitions Commission

Victor Mallet demonstrates vividly why India needs to get to grips with the huge challenge of antibiotic resistance...I hope Mr Modis policy advisers read his powerful narrative.

Jim ONeill, economist, inventor of the BRICS acronym and chair of the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance

Victor is one of those rare foreign journalists who not only likes and understands India but, in addition, has the capacity to see its faults as well as impartially assess the efforts its making to correct them. This means his coverage of India is always informed and thought-provoking. Even when sympathetic hes never biased.

Karan Thapar, Indian television anchor

Also by Victor Mallet

The Trouble with Tigers: The Rise and Fall of South-East Asia

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Victor Mallet 2017

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First Edition published in 2017

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2017939064

ISBN 9780198786177

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For Philip and Mary,

who taught me to love rivers,

from the Rother to the Nile