The Nile Basin is a vast and varied area of 350 million people. Parts of the basin have become the very symbols of African misery, suffering drought, genocide, state failure and aid dependency. At its heart lies the Nile itself. Yet while the importance of the river is well documented for the colonial period there is no comprehensive account of its management after independence. The River Nile in the Post-Colonial Age details the modern development of the Nile Basin and of the efforts to manage its waters. With important new material by researchers from each of the countries through which the Nile passes, it provides an indispensable aid to understanding the complex history of the basin, the politics surrounding it and the efforts being made to jointly manage it.

“[A] vivid travelogue.” New Statesman “Has much to offer.” The Spectator "Sparks the imagination." BBC History Magazine "A fascinating study." BBC History Revealed Magazine “Essential reading." All About History "Valiant, valuable and entertaining." Times Literary Supplement The greatest river in the world has a long and fascinating history. Professor Terje Tvedt, one of the world's leading experts on the history of waterways, travels upstream along the river's mouth to its sources. The result is a travelogue through 5000 years and 11 countries, from the Mediterranean to Central Africa. This is the fascinating story of the immense economic, political and mythical significance of the river. Brimming with accounts of central characters in the struggle for the Nile – from Caesar and Cleopatra, to Churchill and Mussolini, and on to the political leaders of today, The Nile is also the story of water as it nourished a civilization.

Competition over the Nile watercourse is becoming a global crisis. As population growth, economic development, and urbanization increase the demand for water in the Nile Basin while climate change threatens its supply, the region faces a looming water crisis. An effective resolution of this multifaceted issue, which impacts 11 African countries, requires detailed multidisciplinary research. Until now the academic discourse regarding the Nile watercourse has been primarily dominated by monodisciplinary studies. This book fills that gap, providing a retrospective and prospective look at the Nile through multidisciplinary lenses—commingling history, hydro-politics, climate change, and law. It scrutinizes the legal and hydro-political trajectories of the Nile Basin, from the 4th century A.D. to 2022.

This book provides an avenue for students to explore the Nile—the world's longest river—and better understand its larger role in society in the past, present, and future. The Nile River has been the most important natural resource for Egyptians and other Africans who live along its shores for thousands of years, bringing life to an otherwise arid and bleak desert region. Without the Nile, civilizations in Egypt could not have achieved such success. The physical, cultural, religious, and political impacts of this mighty riverway are enormous. This one-volume encyclopedia explores a breadth of topics related to the Nile River, from ancient irrigation techniques to 19th-century exploration and from current environmental controversies to concerns regarding man-made Lake Nasser. Readers will be able to explore beyond the physical aspects of the world's longest river to achieve an understanding of the Nile River's larger role in society. After a preface and introduction that provides general background information on the source, tributaries, and mouth of the Nile, the encyclopedia presents thematic essays that cover topics such as the Nile's physical geography; history; environmental issues and controversies; culture, religion, and legend; and politics. More than 100 entries cover key individuals, specific locations, geology and structure, significant expeditions, gods and deities, and folklore related to the Nile. In addition, the work provides an appendix of primary document excerpts from explorers' journals and more recent legislation on damming as well as an appendix of place names, interesting sidebars, and a helpful chronology of key events.

This book is a contribution by the presenters of the 2020 International Conference on the Nile and Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The Nile basin is facing unprecedented level of water right challenges after the construction of GERD has begun. Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan have struggled to narrow their differences on filling and operation of the GERD. The need for science and data-based discussion for a lasting solution is crucial. Historical perspectives, water rights, agreements, failed negotiations, and other topics related to the Nile is covered in this book. The book covers Nile water claims past and present, international transboundary basin cooperation and water sharing, Nile water supply and demand management, Blue Nile/Abbay and Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, land and water degradation and watershed management, emerging threats of the Lakes Region in the Nile Basin, and hydrologic variation and monitoring. This book is beneficial for students, researchers, sociologists, engineers, policy makers, lawyers, water resources and environmental managers and for the people and governments of the Nile Basin.

The essays in this Oxford Handbook rethink the modern history of one of the most important and influential countries in the Middle East--Egypt. For a country and region so often understood in terms of religion and violence, this work explores environmental, medical, legal, cultural, and political histories. It gives readers an excellent view of the current debates in Egyptian history.

Despite the central importance that water has held for civilizations both ancient and modern, its social significance has made surprisingly little impact on our contemporary understanding of human history and development. Dominant interpretations of the relationship between society and nature have remained water blind. In Water and Society historian and leading water expert Terje Tvedt argues for a change that acknowledges the significant role played by water in societal development. Reflecting his expertise as a geographer, historian and a political scientist, and drawing on his wide experience of water issues around the world, Terje Tvedt s Water and Society provides a long overdue reappraisal of the relationship between water and society, one that gives water its rightful place as central to any true understanding of human history and development."