A History of Water
Being an Account of a Murder, an Epic and Two Visions of Global History
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
£0.00 for first 30 days
A History of Water
Buy Now for £12.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Richard Trinder
About this listen
A Times History Book of the Year 2022
A TLS Book of the Year 2022
From award-winning writer Edward Wilson-Lee, this is a thrilling true historical detective story set in sixteenth-century Portugal.
A History of Water follows the interconnected lives of two men across the Renaissance globe. One of them – an aficionado of mermen and Ethiopian culture, an art collector, historian and expert on water-music – returns home from witnessing the birth of the modern age to die in a mysterious incident, apparently the victim of a grisly and curious murder. The other – a ruffian, vagabond and braggart, chased across the globe from Mozambique to Japan – ends up as the national poet of Portugal.
The stories of Damião de Góis and Luís de Camões capture the extraordinary wonders that awaited Europeans on their arrival in India and China, the challenges these marvels presented to longstanding beliefs, and the vast conspiracy to silence the questions these posed about the nature of history and of human life.
Like all good mysteries, everyone has their own version of events.
©2022 Edward Wilson-Lee (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers LimitedListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"A wonderful–and wonder-full–recreation of a crucial episode in European history." (Daily Telegraph)
"A mind-blowing achievement." (Alberto Manguel)
"I adored this. Not just a real-life murder mystery but a gloriously vivid picture of the early modern world and its global networks… This is a dazzling, encyclopaedic history." (Dennis Duncan, author of Index, A History of The)
What listeners say about A History of Water
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Epikurios
- 29-08-22
Enthralling!
This dense but mellifluous narrative is entertaining and instructive from the first page to the last. The writing is phenomenal - and the overall thesis of the narrative very thought-provoking. Should history have taken a different turn in the sixteenth century? Probably! And we are still suffering the consequences of the fact that it didn't.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- djmp
- 20-12-23
Fascinating
A very different take on the drivers of history arguing convincly that human nature and perception that ones own culture and belief structure always win out as they are "obviously superior" and alternatives must be suppressed (the method varies) to maintain ones own core beliefs
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!