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An enthralling account of one of the world's great rivers, and of the threat it faces from climate change and rampant pollution.

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The Ganges is much more than a river. Ma Ganga (Mother Ganges) is the purifier of souls, forgiver of sins and the place where a billion Hindus want their ashes to be swept downstream after they have died and their bodies have been cremated on the riverbank. When Narendra Modi was swept to power in 2014, one of his first acts was to pay his respects to the river and praise it as his mother.
Yet for all the reverence accorded to it, the Ganges faces an existential threat to its future. It is now so depleted by irrigation dams and polluted by untreated sewage and industrial waste that parts of the river have become toxic. The implications are profound, both for the tenth of the world's population that rely on the river for their water, and for the wider stability of the world's largest democracy.
Having travelled the length and breadth of the Ganges, interviewing pilgrims and fishermen, politicians and biologists, author Victor Mallet has created a fascinating portrait of the river and its people, as well as drawing urgent attention to the dangers posed by climate change, population growth, and unchecked pollution. While Mallet is optimistic that India can still save its greatest river, it will be a momentous task that the country has barely begun to address.