This book highlights the first comparative long-term analysis of the
negative impacts of large dams on riverine communities and on
free-flowing rivers in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Following the
Foreword by Professor Asit K. Biswas, the first section covers the
1956-1973 period, when the author believed that large dams provided an
exceptional opportunity for integrated river basin development. In turn,
the second section (1976-1997) reflects the author's increasing concerns
about the magnitude of the socio-economic and environmental costs of
large dams, while the third (1998-2018) discusses why large dams are in
fact not cost-effective in the long term.