As oil was the crisis of the twentieth century, water is the crisis of the twenty-first. Less than .0008 percent of the total water on Earth is fit for human consumption, but global consumption of fresh water is doubling every twenty years. Water has become perhaps our most precious commodity-a life-sustaining but increasingly rare and privatized resource. A dramatic gap exists between those who have adequate water for survival and those who don't, and tensions over water in some areas of the world hover just below open war.

From Europe to Asia to Africa to America, award-winning journalist Jeffrey Rothfeder has visited the world's hot spots with the least amount of water, and also places where there is so much of it that plans are in the works to sell the excess to the highest bidder. In this compelling narrative account of our world in turmoil over water, he describes the issues and struggles of the people on all sides of the water crisis: from the scarred survivors of bizarre water-management practices, to those who are willing to die for water to sustain their families and crops, to the scientists and leaders who are trying to set things straight.

Important, provocative, and immensely readable, Every Drop for Sale explores a fascinating critical dilemma: as we run out of it, is water a fundamental right of everybody on Earth or just a human need that can be bought and sold like any other commodity?