Brian Fagan’s entry into the burgeoning popular literature of water policy delves deeply into the archaeologist’s fascination with traditional human cultures and their relationships to their environments. James Langton’s narration is always even and clear. The listener learns about Bali’s water priests, African irrigation channels, Assyrian water tunnels, wells of the ancient Indus, Mayan agriculture, and more. The issues generally associated with industrial and postindustrial water policy in the U.S. and around the world appear only in the last chapter. Langton enlivens even the most obscure facts about medieval waterwheels and Roman aqueducts. His pleasant accent matches Fagan’s Cambridge pedigree.
Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2011
Duration: 13 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Tantor Media
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Dr. Plotkin is an ethnobotanist who recounts his experiences searching for new medications in the Amazon rain forest. He makes an impassioned plea for the world to stop destroying this irreplaceable resource. Since the author reads his own work, we can rely on the pronunciation of some unusual botanical terms; however, his voice (presumably not trained for performance) lacks the enthusiasm and fascination the words suggest. Furthermore, with no chapter references and few pauses between sections, transitions, such as the change of location from Ecuador to Massachusetts, are awkward.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
A beautiful performance of a fascinating and moving story.
Narrator Sean Pratt is masterful in expressing the bravery, selflessness, and deep sense of humanity that underlie and accompany this tragic true story. Kolker relates the history of a family blasted by a rare form of inherited dementia called frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Five of nine siblings, along with their mother, have the genetic mutation that strikes while they are only in their 40s and slowly changes their personalities. It’s a cruel fate, but Pratt’s narration brings empathy, suspense, and even hope. As the next generation faces the same challenges in their own future, listeners will hope that scientific research, pharmaceutical development, and genetic modification may provide some relief from FTD and other forms of dementia.
A beautiful performance of a fascinating and moving story.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
Duration: 10 hrs, 57 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217406425
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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