Mary Ann M. reviewed Chasing the Sea : Lost Among the Ghosts of Empire in Central Asia (Vintage Departures) on
This author is young but has already had tremendous experience in Central Asia. He has one of the largest vocabularies of any author I have read and he writes very descriptively. Most importantly, he is telling a story about a part of the world which is having and will continue to have a vast influence over America because of the uprise of the Islamic fundamentalists. I was totally unaware that the Aral Sea in central Asia in a little known place called Karakalpac has totally dried up. It used to be the size of Lake Michigan and now is a desert. This is the largest ecological disaster on our planet and was caused by decisions made by man. During the time of the Russian empire, when this part of the world was controlled by Russia, they grew cotton in the desert by irrigating from the Aral Sea. Now the sea is gone and it is impossible to sustain life in that area. The increase in the Islamic nation throughout the world is directly attributable to the collapse of the Russian Empire. When Russia was strong they would not allow the Muslims to become powerful, but when they collapsed the Muslims filled the vacuum created by the retreat of Russia, being lead and financed by Saudi Arabia. They now are most powerful in central Asia. This book is very interesting and informative.
