作为中华文明的摇篮，黄河对于中华民族具有如此重大的意义，以至于千百年来，人们以歌咏之，以文颂之，以绘画表现之，以影像记录之，而记载、研究黄河的资料可谓汗牛充栋，车载斗量。本书《黄河之水：蜿蜒中的现代中国》以一个外国人的视角，考察了黄河从古至今的历史变迁及其对整个中国生态环境的影响，乃至其对于国际社会的意义；剖析了黄河的流经之地——华北平原上的水治理及其对于中国政治和经济稳定的重大作用。尤为值得一提的是，作者在分析华北平原水资源状况的共时面貌和历时变迁时，将中国治理黄河的复杂历史遗产与中华文明的起源、中华民族的国家认同和民族意识、中国历代政权的合法性联系起来，不仅细描了黄河治理的不同阶段和策略，而且深剖了黄河的象征意义、政治意义、军事意义，展现出一面别样的学术景致。

This book explores the interplay between war and the environment in Henan Province, a hotly contested frontline territory that endured massive environmental destruction and human disruption during the conflict between China and Japan that raged during World War II. In a desperate attempt to block Japan's military advance, Chinese Nationalist armies under Chiang Kai-shek broke the Yellow River's dikes in Henan in June 1938, resulting in devastating floods that persisted until after the war's end. Greater catastrophe struck Henan in 1942-1943, when famine took some two million lives and displaced millions more. Focusing on these war-induced disasters and their aftermath, this book conceptualizes the ecology of war in terms of energy flows through and between militaries, societies, and environments. Ultimately, Micah Muscolino argues that efforts to procure and exploit nature's energy in various forms shaped the choices of generals, the fates of communities, and the trajectory of environmental change in North China.