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The Search for Water

A Human History of Thirst
By Virginia Mendoza
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Brief Description
Virginia Mendoza's first memories are of drought. She grew up in La Mancha, Spain, the driest region in Europe. Her parents, grandparents, and almost every word, tool, and tradition of her homeland conveyed one conviction: without water, there is no life; without water, there is no... Read More
Format: Hardback
$5999
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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Virginia Mendoza's first memories are of drought. She grew up in La Mancha, Spain, the driest region in Europe. Her parents, grandparents, and almost every word, tool, and tradition of her homeland conveyed one conviction: without water, there is no life; without water, there is no civilization.

In The Search for Water, Mendoza weaves this personal reflection together with a dazzling scientific and anthropological enquiry into the ways the search for water has shaped the story of humanity. From flows of migration, agriculture, and pagan rain gods to contemporary struggles with drought and climate change, Mendoza writes a gripping and inventive history of humankind as driven and united by one force: thirst.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781805332930

Publisher: Pushkin Press

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 09 April 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Pushkin Press

Contributors:

  • Translated by Thomas Bunstead

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Width: 153.0mm

Height: 234.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 320

Collections

Biography & Memoir Education & Reference Science & Nature Uncategorised Virginia Mendoza

About the Author

Virginia Mendoza studied Journalism and Social and Cultural Anthropology. She works as a freelance journalist and has written for various media in Spain and Latin America, and she has published books on rootedness and uprooting in which she fuses narrative journalism and rural anthropology. The Search for Water, a hybrid of essay, historical anthropology and memoir, is currently being translated into three languages.

Thomas Bunstead was born in London in 1982 and lives in Pembrokeshire, west Wales. He has translated leading Spanish-language writers, including Maria Gainza and Enrique Vila-Matas, and won various awards, including an O. Henry Prize and the 2024 Cercador Prize for Literature in Translation.

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