Rivers are the great natural arteries that run through our lives. We have navigated them, dammed them and worshipped at them. From the ancient ecosystems of Egypt to the sinking cities of Shanghai and London, what we do with our rivers tells us about who has power and what we value. Now, when a passion for wild swimming is flourishing but the Amazon is on fire and some of our major river systems are dying, it has never been clearer that rivers are intertwined with humanity at our best and our worst.
Seven Rivers is story of the Nile, Danube, Niger, Mississippi, Ganges, Yangtze and the Thames. It is a story of imperial frontiers, alluvial gold, kidnappings, slavery, anticolonialism and creation myths. It is about those who've lived and died on these rivers and their endless capacity for invention: their lotus pools and hanging gardens, their gigantic canal systems and elaborate fishing rituals, their absolute powers and their sly rebellions. At its heart are the empire-builders of the Chinese dynasties, Romans and Hindus and their river gods, the Habsburgs and Ottomans, Mughal emperors, the people of the Niger from Mali's golden age to today, struggles of life and death on the Mississippi, and the dethroning of the British on the rivers of their unruly imperial subjects.
This is the story of us, in seven rivers.
| ISBN: | 9781474617222 |
| Publication date: | 14th August 2025 |
| Author: | Vanessa Taylor |
| Publisher: | Weidenfeld & Nicolson an imprint of Orion |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 448 pages |
| Genres: |
Physical geography and topography Rivers and lakes Religious sites / Holy or sacred places Environmental science, engineering and technology Nature and the natural world: general interest |
Rivers are the great natural arteries that run through our lives. We have navigated them, dammed them and worshipped at them. From the ancient ecosystems of Egypt to the sinking cities of Shanghai and London, what we do with our rivers tells us about who has power and what we value. Now, when a passion for wild swimming is flourishing but the Amazon is on fire and some of our major river systems are dying, it has never been clearer that rivers are intertwined with humanity at our best and our worst.
Seven Rivers is story of the Nile, Danube, Niger, Mississippi, Ganges, Yangtze and the Thames. It is a story of imperial frontiers, alluvial gold, kidnappings, slavery, anticolonialism and creation myths. It is about those who've lived and died on these rivers and their endless capacity for invention: their lotus pools and hanging gardens, their gigantic canal systems and elaborate fishing rituals, their absolute powers and their sly rebellions. At its heart are the empire-builders of the Chinese dynasties, Romans and Hindus and their river gods, the Habsburgs and Ottomans, Mughal emperors, the people of the Niger from Mali's golden age to today, struggles of life and death on the Mississippi, and the dethroning of the British on the rivers of their unruly imperial subjects.
This is the story of us, in seven rivers.
Seven Rivers features in the following genres: Physical geography and topography, Rivers and lakes, Religious sites / Holy or sacred places, Environmental science, engineering and technology, Nature and the natural world: general interest
Seven Rivers is available in Paperback, Hardback
Seven Rivers was written by Vanessa Taylor and published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson an imprint of Orion
Seven Rivers has 448 pages
£22.50