The Devil and the Disappearing Sea: A True Story about the Aral Sea Catastrophe

Truth is stranger than fiction - This age-old adage could not more aptly describe the amazing tale of a Canadian trying to bring his communications skills to the political quagmire in Central Asia. The reason is the disappearing Aral Sea and the urgent need to face the threat and, hopefully, launch a regional campaign to reverse the dangerous trend. The story is also about the politicians who have taken(or maintained control) over the running of the five neighboring states after the collapse of the Soviet system, their politics now and then to plan away this precious water and biodiversity resource. Add to that situation the ambitions of the World Bank and international consultants to guide the process you get a dangerous mix. Ferguson's account of his one-year stint in Tashkent is a fascinating read that brings to light scenarios that are as hilarious as they are infuriating. It is not giving anything away to hint at the danger to persons: the author gets under suspicion to have been involved in the murder of one of the local recruits. As the story unfolds one can understand why - and it is a lot more complex than it appears on the surface. One major thread is the interaction of the team of local bureaucrats and experts with the international group brought in to work with them. Ferguson's characterization of the people involved is excellent. They come alive off the page, in particular those of "the other side". The sides of friend and foe are not always clear and can change more or less overnight. All the main characters are engaged in this World Bank-financed grand scheme to save the Aral Sea. It should be added that the Aral Sea once was the world's fourth largest inland body of water. Now only 20% of its 1960 size, experts fear that it will have disappeared by 2020. Urgent action was required and the Bank, with a team of foreign experts, stepped in to move the program forward. How much the local water leadership has been behind the project is another question to explore. Ferguson was hired to advise the public education component, meaning to get the publics to understand the dangers of the disappearing water and to engage them in possible remedies. Following him on his mission to connect with the five public education teams, to share ideas and to get them moving towards the common goal, the reader is drawn into mesh of intrigue, suspicion, greed and much more. On his travels, Ferguson takes time out to visit historic cities like Samarkand and Bukhara (both in Uzbekistan), major centres on the ancient Silk Road from China to the West. His knowledge of the region's fascinating history is solid and he conveys what is useful without overburdening the reader. He has a gift for observation of places and ambiance just as much as of people. Having visited these cities many years ago and forgotten many details, I found Ferguson's vivid description brought them all back with ease. Whether he explores more remote spaces, climbs mountains or drink

A well-written account of one Canadian's attempt to cut through the left-over soviet-style bureaucracies of five Central Asian countries. Ferguson was employed by the World Bank to develop a PR strategy to convince wasteful water users on the Aral Sea's two main feeder rivers to change their practises, which are dooming the once-massive inland sea to eventual disappearance. However, his project is locally headed by the man who was originally responsible for the Soviet's collosal irrigation schemes that caused the problem. The book is an entertaining, and suspenseful, account of the intricate scheming and nationalist jockeying amongst the nnumerable teams and factions trying to either save or undermine the whole PR project, while skimming off as much of the project money as they can. The struggle finally results in a murder which forces Ferguson to flee the region. Ferguson gives lively descriptions of the character of the people he works with, or against, as well as providing a wry historical and travel commentary for the whole region. His text is filled with verbatim dialogue and he uses no fictional names. The whole account is very believable, and completely damning to the autocratic regimes that rule the five countries where he worked. After this book, it is unlikely Ferguson will be visiting Central Asia again any time soon.

Not long ago I would have had to think about just where in the world the Aral Sea was and why I should care. Not a fan of serious works on the destruction of earth's landforms at the hands of humans - they make me feel guilty - I wasn't sure that this book was for me. But what a surprise. I was drawn in immediately to this tale of corruption in central Asia. Ferguson can write - think of a mix of Le Carre, Bill Bryson and Wade Davis. He is a natural storyteller with a gift for showing us both comedy and tragedy, the fools, the innocents and the villains. Himself an innocent, Ferguson lands in Tashkent ready to play his role to help 'save the Aral Sea.' On a year's contract to co-ordinate a public awareness program, funded by the World Bank and managed by a PR company in France, he no sooner finds an office and an apartment than the games begin. Mr. G, the villain, is a scary guy and Tashkent feels like lonely post for a foreign aid specialist from Canada. Ferguson writes with just the right mixture of humility, wit and bravado - we can really believe that we are there with him. He has a fascinating story to tell - one filled with mystery and intrigue, and set in exotic places - Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Samarkand. But there is nothing exotic about the Soviet landscapes imposed upon the cities and countryside that Ferguson visits or his role as suspect in the messy murder of an attractive office manager. I learned something about the Aral Sea and its plight from this book. I even learned a little about foreign aid, how it is spent and why - and who sometimes ends up with the money. But what makes this book so good is Ferguson's affection for the places he visits and the people he meets there. He also has the healthy cynicism of one that knows that the world's great ecological disasters are not going to be corrected by good intentions alone. He at once informs and entertains. I hope that he has another book in the works.

Grim topic, great book. The tale of Ferguson's year of living dangerously as an environmentalist in post-Communist (but not post-corruption) Uzbekistan is part thriller, part work of reportage and part gripping traveller's tale.Ferguson's witty, sardonic and humane narrative exposes both the environmental devastation wrought on the Aral Sea by corruption, greed and bad planning and the tragicomic realpolitik involved in international development projects.Despite the mounting frustrations of his stymied job and the corruption and crime he recounts -- including a brutal murder -- Ferguson writes with real affection for Central Asia and its people. The characters are vividly drawn, and the book is dotted with sharp vignettes of the fabled cities of the Silk Road. I hope a British edition is available soon.

I couldn't put this book down. It's totally gripping. And it's a very unique type of non-fiction book, to say the least!I probably wouldn't have been interested in a lengthy matter-of-fact presentation of the circumstances of the Aral Sea impasse, although it's a topic I've been mildly curious about for a few years. (The availability of fresh water is bound to be a huge issue worldwide in the years to come.)But I was drawn to the entertaining and sardonic tone of Ferguson's writing, and I quickly found his book is a real page-turner -- with the "murder mystery" plot interwoven with the political machinations faced by the team trying to solve the fresh water crisis in Central Asia. And I would have felt "adrift" without the recurring bits of historical and cultural background that Ferguson provides throughout (Central Asia is still a bit of a mystery to me, after so many years tucked away behind the Iron Curtain, and despite the recent developments in nearby Afghanistan).Why aren't there more books like this?I'm not suggesting the world needs MORE obstructed attempts to solve environmental crises, simply so that insiders can write scathing first-hand accounts of the real-world complexities behind that type of endeavour! But I think it's amazing that Ferguson was involved in the predicament he writes about, yet he didn't get co-opted by it -- I would assume most people in such a situation would try to save face by hoping nobody noticed. The organizational (or professional) self-preservation instinct. Y'know?Ferguson evidently had a frightening adventure, and I'm glad he shared his story with us instead of sweeping it under the carpet, and counting his blessings.