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Last Days of the Mighty Mekong
What's At Stake for Southeast Asia's Great River?
Last Days of the Mighty Mekong
What's At Stake for Southeast Asia's Great River?
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Description
Celebrated for its natural beauty and its abundance of wildlife, the Mekong river runs thousands of miles through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Its basin is home to more than 70 million people and has for centuries been one of the world's richest agricultural areas and a biodynamic wonder. Today, however, it is undergoing profound changes. Development policies, led by a rising China in particular, aim to interconnect the region and urbanize the inhabitants.
In this new and comprehensively updated edition of Last Days of the Mighty Mekong, Brian Eyler gives his first-hand account of the impact on the river of the tumultuous political period since the book's original publication. From the lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic and a devastating drought to the increasing political tensions and resource competition between China and Trump-era America, Eyler recounts his own increasing involvements in international efforts to protect this precious and delicate environment. Along the way he meets the region's diverse peoples, from villagers to community leaders, politicians to policy makers. Through conversations with them he reveals the urgent struggle to save the Mekong and its unique ecosystem.
Accessibility Information
Additional accessibility information
- PDF/UA-2, 1.4
- accessibility@bloomsbury.com
Hazards
The publication contains no hazards
Support for non-visual reading
Has alternative text descriptions for images
Navigation
- Page list to go to pages from the print source version
- Elements such as headings, tables, etc for structured navigation
- All or substantially all textual matter is arranged in a single logical reading order
Table of Contents
1. Yubeng: The Last Shangri-la
2. Damming the Upper Mekong
3. The Erhai Valley
4. The Akha as Modern Zomians
5. The Golden Triangle in Transition
6. Laos as a Contested Space
7. Damming the Lower Mekong
8. Phnom Penh and Boeung Kak Lake
9. The Tonle Sap
10. Whither the Mekong Delta
Product details
| Published | 10 Dec 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (PDF) |
| Edition | 2nd |
| Pages | 288 |
| ISBN | 9781350578913 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Series | Asian Arguments |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
About the contributors
Reviews
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'Eyler has written a breathtaking account of a journey down the river, from high up in the Chinese province of Yunnan to the Mekong Delta more than 2,700 miles away [...] His book reads like a travelogue, filled with vivid descriptions of the places he visits and the people he encounters. But it is also a stark warning that the river is heading for irreparable ruin.'
Wall Street Journal
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'The book describes how unsustainable human society's current relationship is with the Mekong'
Council of Foreign Affairs
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'Brian Eyler … has penned an engaging and open-ended book, with a less elegiac tone than its title might imply. At many points a vividly reported travelogue.'
China Dialogue
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With a poet's eye and a scholar's breadth, Last Days of the Mighty Mekong unfurls the story of the wonderous, imperilled Mekong. Eight years after its first publication, Brian Eyler's engrossing call to action to protect this river is more urgent than ever. Empathetic and sweeping, this moving work by the preeminent Mekong expert is a must-read for anyone seeking to better understand the roiling catastrophe facing the region - and the communities most endangered.
Abby Seiff, author of Troubling the Water: A Dying Lake and a Vanishing World in Cambodia, Southeast Asia

























