Scott Carney is an investigative journalist and anthropologist, as
well as the author of the New York Times bestseller What Doesn't
Kill Us. He spent six years living in South Asia as a contributing
editor for WIRED and writer for Mother Jones, NPR, Discover
Magazine, Fast Company, Men's Journal, and many other publications.
His other books include The Red Market, The Enlightenment Trap and
The Wedge. He is the founder of Foxtopus Ink, a Denver-based media
company.
Jason Miklian, Ph.D., is a Senior Researcher at the Centre for
Development and Environment, University of Oslo. Miklian has
published over 60 academic and policy works on issues of conflict
and crisis, based on extensive fieldwork in Bangladesh, Colombia,
India, and the Congo. He serves on the United Nations Expert Panel
on Business and Human Rights, has won several awards for his
academic publications, and serves as an expert resource for various
government knowledge banks in the US, UK, EU and Norway. Miklian
has also written for or been cited in an expert capacity by the New
York Times, BBC, The Economist, Washington Post, France 24, The
Guardian, The Hindu (India) and NPR.
"[A] tremendous new book. . . . As much as The Vortex is about
natural disasters and climate change, it is also about U.S. foreign
policy: about how Washington's expedient decisions can leave
indelible marks on history thousands of miles away. . . . The
Vortex should remind [the United States] of the need to stay
vigilant with our partners, no matter the strategic benefits they
may offer." -- Boston Globe"?A fast-paced work of narrative
nonfiction. . . . Carney and Miklian write vividly in the fashion
of a cinematic disaster flick. . . . Their mastery of documentary
sources and previous scholarship is evident." -- Washington Post"If
a butterfly flaps its wings, halfway across the world there will be
a huge storm. . . . But what if you started with the storm? What
unforeseen effects could that have? . . . The Vortex specifically
focuses on how climate catastrophes can change the world in
unpredictable ways." -- NPR.com, "Book of the Day""The [vortex] in
the title is literal and metaphorical. It refers not just to the
political upheaval in late 1971 but also to Bhola, the cyclonic
storm that barreled up the Bay of Bengal and hit the coast of East
Pakistan. . . . The authors describe in harrowing detail nature's
assault on the island of Manpura. . . . Bhola was, in the authors'
telling, a perfect storm. . . . The authors tell [the story] with
riveting panache." -- Wall Street Journal"Unbelievably harrowing."
-- NPR, Morning Edition"Scott Carney and Jason Miklian craft
top-notch narrative nonfiction from this complex story of natural
disaster crossed with politics. . . . This is full of jaw-dropping
stuff. . . . A readable, compelling narrative [that] arrives at a
critical moment." -- WhatsNonfiction.com"Carney and Miklian reveal
a long-concealed and profoundly shocking confluence of geopolitical
crimes and crises. . . . As Carney and Miklian so dramatically
recount, a natural disaster instigated a civil war and epic
atrocities, the birth of Bangladesh, and, in a nightmarish twist,
very nearly ignited a nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia. With
propulsive narrative drive and intense specificity, the authors
circle among a cast of riveting real-life characters. . . . Deeply
involving and harrowing, this commanding work of reclaimed and
clarified history is of urgent relevance." -- Booklist (starred
review)"Absorbing. . . . An essential history of the infuriatingly
tragic creation of Bangladesh amid a devastating storm, genocide,
war, political intrigue, and hope." -- Library Journal (starred
review)"[The Vortex] is a riveting, page-turning story of human
devastation, political corruption, and individual bravery as well
as a cautionary tale with universal relevance. . . . To those who
may feel complacent about what happened a half-century ago in a
relatively obscure part of the world, Carney and Miklian deliver a
stark warning. . . . A powerful, timely exploration of an
environmental and political tragedy." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred
review)"[Carney and Miklian] look to the past to predict the future
of climate change. . . . Carney and Miklian make a persuasive case
that as climate change produces more frequent and deadlier storms,
the world faces 'an increasing likelihood of selective genocide and
even global international war.' Shot through with colorful
character sketches and lucid explanations of South Asian politics,
this is an urgent warning about the links between global warming
and geopolitical turmoil." -- Publishers Weekly"Among the greatest
threats posed by climate change are dangerous supercharged storms
powered by warming oceans. But their catastrophic destruction isn't
limited to lives and property; sometimes even entire political
ecosystems are at risk. In The Vortex, Scott Carney and Jason
Miklian take us on a riveting journey into the deadliest storm
ever. They reveal not only the devastating human toll but also how
it triggered a horrific genocide and war. In the absence of
meaningful climate action, climate disasters threaten to
increasingly force humans into conflict, making The Vortex an
urgent wake-up call for our shared global future." -- Michael E.
Mann, Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science, Penn State
University, and author of The New Climate War: The Fight to Take
Back Our Planet"The catastrophic Bhola cyclone and the bloody
liberation war it triggered in now-Bangladesh get the high-octane
storytelling they deserve in The Vortex. A tsunami of a book that
reveals the horrors of climate change and a US-backed genocide, as
well as the joys of solidarity and national liberation, told
through the stories of people who were right there on its
frontlines."
-- Naomi Hossain, professor of global development, American
University
"This book makes you feel like you're living through the traumatic
birth of Bangladesh, a beautiful and resilient country that has
overcome near-impossible odds. But if we don't quickly bring
climate change under control, those experiences of our past could
foreshadow our next great global tragedy. The Vortex is a stark
reminder that the power of nature can either be tempered by human
wisdom, or amplified by our shortsighted greed and hunger for
power. An epic tale indeed!" -- Bill McKibben, author The End of
Nature, educator, environmentalist, and Co-founder of 350.org"An
utterly gripping story of international political intrigue, natural
disaster, and the consequences for millions as refracted through
the experiences of the ordinary, powerless people. The births of
nations are rarely without drama and in the case of Bangladesh,
though now an economic miracle, it began with all the tragedy that
could befall one of the world's poorest countries. The Vortex
provides timely instruction for the age of climate change in how
politics and environmental pressures combine explosively." -- Zia
Haider Rahman, James Tait Black Memorial Prize-winning author of In
the Light of What We Know
"This is a rich tale of a terrible cyclone and the human folly that
deepened the tragedy. Grippingly written, it is both a powerful
history of the creation of modern Bangladesh and an urgent warning
about our precarious common future on our rapidly heating
planet."
-- Gary J. Bass, author of The Blood Telegram
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