Product Description
The dramatic story of the Bushmen of the Kalahari is a cautionary tale about water in the twenty-first century—and offers unexpected solutions for our time. “We don’t govern water. Water governs us,” writes James G. Workman. I n Heart of Dryness, he chronicles the memorable saga of the famed Bushmen of the Kalahari—remnants of one of the world’s most successful civilizations, today at the exact 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 twenty-first century: the supply of water. The Bushmen’s story could well prefigure our own. In the United States, even the most upbeat optimists concede we now face an unprecedented water crisis. Reservoirs behind large dams on the Colorado River, which serve thirty million in many states, will be dry in thirteen years. Southeastern drought recently cut Tennessee Valley Authority hydropower in half, exposed Lake Okeechobee’s floor, dried up thousands of acres of Georgia’s crops, and left Atlanta with sixty days of water. Cities east and west are drying up. As reservoirs and aquifers fail, officials ration water, neighbors snitch on one another, corporations move in, and states fight states to control shared rivers. Each year, around the world, inadequate water kills more humans than AIDS, malaria, and all wars combined. Global leaders pray for rain. Bushmen tap more pragmatic solutions. James G . 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.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 21 reviews)

Recounts the history of the Bushmen of the Kalahari and how they struggled with water shortages by Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)

5 Stars
November 17, 2009
HEART OF DRYNESS: HOW THE LAST BUSHMEN CAN HELP US ENDURE THE COMING AGE OF PERMANENT DROUGHT recounts the history of the Bushmen of the Kalahari and how they struggled with water shortages. The Bushmen are one of the world's most successful civilizations: their story and experiences with both drought and politics offer numerous social, political and adaptation lessons to a world increasingly linked to water availability.

Why Don't We Learn? by Gordon L. Brigham (Topsham, ME USA)

5 Stars
November 07, 2009
Often the most powerful messages come in the simplest form. The messae in "Heart of Dryness" is one of those, but it comes layered. Water is a scarce resource, be smart using and conserving it/We of the developed world may not have all the answers, and we should be humble, thankful and open to the wisdom of those whose "science" is deeper and more personal/The solutions to our problems today might well come in clever, even thoughtful thirty-second soundbites. It may well have to, since that seems increasingy to be the span of attention we have to deal with. However,it is the dedication, patience and persistence required to implement those solutions that is missing. The author's journey in writing "Heart of Dryness" parallels the longer journey taken by the Bushmen he writes about. There is an instinctive awarensss of the injustices too prevalent in the world, and an understanding that science does not provide the only knowledge that can guide us. The narrative of human struggle is inseparable from the critical issue of water's role in the health and politics of the world. The book weaves a compelling story that early on begins to raise the central question" "OK, growing water scarcity and waste in its usage is a pervasive issue for out times - but how can we tackle the problem?" The response to that question comes at the end of the book; it is concise and direct - longer than thirty-seconds but with the same impact. But as with the soundbites, the devil is in the details of execution and there is no encouraging indication that there is a growing leadership to move toward the complex steps of implementation. This book is a must-read, whether you are a scientist concerned with water management, or a humanitarian searching for lessons and experience for others to live by.

A gripping tale of Africa by Andrew Rice

5 Stars
October 31, 2009
In Heart of Dryness, James Workman has shown how the most prosaic of resources--water--can become a flashpoint for far-reaching political conflicts. Botswana is one of the few African nations that can be said to have had a prosperous post-colonial experience, but as Workman demonstrates, its success has been built, at least in part, on manipulation of scarce water resources. The losers have been the Bushmen, an ancient, nomadic tribe that has long lived a low-impact existence in the Kalahari, using age-old conservation methods. At a time when the problem of water scarcity is taking on increasing importance in the environmental debate, Heart of Dryness is not merely another warning--though it is full of alarming portents--but also a fascinating legal drama. The Bushmen end up taking the government to court, asking for an affirmation to the human right to water. Workman spent a great deal of time with the Bushmen during their long fight, and his book bursts with the kind of details and nuances that can only come from lived experience. If you've come to this subject because you're interested in environmental issues, this book will teach you about Africa; if you've picked it up because you're fascinated by Africa, as I am, this book will open your eyes to a budding--but with political will, addressable--world water crisis. And if you are merely a fan of well-told stories, full of vivid characters and surprising insights, Workman's masterful book will not disappoint. There's nothing dry about it.

A life changing read! by Alice G. Thomes (Bainbridge Island, Wa)

5 Stars
September 09, 2009
This a book that raises conciousness on SO many levels! It is written straight from the heart of a person who has spent his career understanding water on a global level and people need to wake up and listen to his ideas before it is too late! The planet can exist without people just fine, it is people who cannot continue to exist without understanding how to coexist with the planet. Nature is stronger than we are and will not allow us to overtax our resources. We need to live within nature's boundaries or the earth will not be habitable to humans. The story is very well written and intriquing, almost a thriller, it just happens to be very real and on target for today's world. His suggestions on how to help our already very real problems with water are pragmatic and sensible. Everyone should read this book!

Astonishing Book! by C. DeGetmon (Earth)

5 Stars
August 28, 2009
This is one of the most important environmental books written since the publication of Rachel Carson's, Silent Spring, or Thomas Berry's, The Dream of the Earth. Workman takes on the looming global water shortages that will face our us in the very near future, asserting that the urgency of the problem cannot be ignored any longer. The author takes on a case study of the Kalahari Bushmen documenting their marginalization and oppression at the hands of state policy in Botswana. This policy documents the life struggles of a band of Bushmen who refused to participate in the Botswana government relocation program to expel them from the Kalahari region where they have lived for thousands of years. The aim of the policy follows other well documented colonization scenarios of other indigenous peoples; the aim being to usurp their self determination, take away their rights and freedom, and destroy their cultural identity. With the goal of assimilating them into life-long social dependence on government agencies by assigning them to concentration camps. We have seen these efforts replicated world wide in the United States where first peoples were confined to reservations, or in Australia with the aboriginal peoples. In every case, the oppression is so egregious that it leads to massive alcoholism, and collective despondence by taking away an ancient cultural indentity on the land. To this end, Workmann diligently documents the manner of the oppression by showing the systematic evil present in a government policy which bans water, foraging, and hunting, at the risk or threat of death to the Bushman. For thousands of years this life style has been the life blood of the Bushman who followed the traditions their ancestors. Furthermore, these policies were intended to insure the Bushman's compliance with state relocation to camps for the sake of creating indentured servitude to the state. The single choice Bushmen had under this policy was die in their ancestral lands, or be relocated to concentration camps. The genocidal policy (like others documented world wide) aims to crush any indigenous life-style for the sake of opening the Bushmen's territory to corporate exploitation by the likes of the diamond monopoly run by De Beers. Or as Workman notes, is intended to open the ancestral territory for eco travel by western elites seeking pseudo adventures through trophy hunting of big game on the endangered species list. Perhaps the most moving story is the author's relationship with a pariticular group of Bushmen led by the Mmatriarch Qoroxloo. Workman impeccably documents this group and their struggle for survival. During a particularly stunning attempt of the government to crush any further resistance, government soldiers encircle the camp of this still defiant group of Bushmen to insure compliance with the policy; so to hasten their death through denial of water, or foraging of moisture rich plants. The Matriarch Qoroxloo decides to sneak through the lines of her captors, and seek food for the clan who is starving. She leaves camp with her son and they soon become separated. Her son returns to camp almost dead from heat exhaustion and dehydration, to ask for help for his mother who he fears the worst. A search party of soldiers goes out and helicopter is called in. But it is Qoroxloo's own clan with extraordinary tracking skills that finally comes on the dead body of Oroxloo who is found in fetal position wrapped around a tree. Her dead body is found with a satchel full or moisture rich plants that could have easily saved her life, but the foraged food abundant with life giving moisture, she intended for her people, and not herself. This self-less act clearly demonstrates that this powerful women had more love and compassion in her heart then the entire bureaucratic machine of the Botswana government engaged in genocidal policies. During an autopsy on the life-less body of Qoroxloo, it was shown that months (if not years) of dehydration took its tool on her bodily organs. The specific indicator demonstrating prolonged denial of water being the exact dis-colorization on the inside walls or her heart. Workman's book is both a contemporary story of the cruelty perpetuated by the enfranchised elite who exploit ancestral lands for profit. It is also an environmental story of what awaits us, Westerners, through the continued depletion of water sources and massive drought scenarios brought about by climate change, waiting for us in the not too distant future. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is not still mired in their own denial about the scope and magnitude of the problems facing us. This book is a key to unlocking what we can do to avert our mutual extinction.

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