Red Nile: A Biography of the World's Greatest River - Hardcover

Twigger, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1250052335 ISBN 13: 9781250052339

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books, 2014

Synopsis

From religion, to language, to the stories rooted in our faith and history books, the Nile River has proven to be a constant fixture in mankind's tales. In this dazzling, idiosyncratic journey from ancient times to the Arab Spring, Red Nile navigates a meandering course through the history of the world's greatest river, exploring this unique breeding ground for creativity, power clashes, and constant change.

Seasoned historical writer Robert Twigger connects the comprehensive history of the Nile with his personal experience of living in Egypt while researching the Nile's historical origins. Twigger covers the entirety of the river, charting the length of the Nile from its disputed origins through Africa on a whirlwind tour of the rulers, explorers, conquerors, generals, and novelists who painted the Nile "red." Both comprehensive and intimate, this narrative guides readers through history by way of the mighty river known across the world.

The result of this meticulously researched book is an all-inclusive history of this epic river and the incredible connections throughout history. The stories of excess, love, passion, splendor, and violence are what make the Nile so engaging, even after centuries of change.

About this title

About the Author

Robert Twigger attended Oxford University and later spent a year training at Martial Arts with the Tokyo Riot Police. He has won the Newdigate prize for poetry, the Somerset Maugham award for literature and the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award. In addition to writing books, he has written for Esquire, Maxim, the Daily Telegraph, and the Financial Times. He divides his time between Cairo and the United Kingdom.

Review

“Robert Twigger's Red Nile: A Biography of the World's Greatest River abounds in ... tales of grand dreams and thwarted ambitions....A book that, like the Nile itself, teems with life.” ―The New York Times Book Review

“A rich tapestry of Nile lore and legend, stretching from the ancients to the fall of the latest tyrant.... the author compiles a vast compendium of drama and history around the attempts to control the Nile. Somewhat chronological but hardly linear, Twigger's labor of love meanders, much like its subject. ...A painstaking work of research and careful observation.” ―Kirkus Reviews

“A bona fide media daredevil with brains and balls beyond the norm.” ―Andrew Martin, Daily Telegraph

“An entertaining and absorbing read.” ―Anthony Sattin, The Guardian (UK)

“Robert Twigger's ambitious biography of the Nile is an unexpected triumph...a scintillatingly colourful account of a river and a region Twigger knows intimately...an elegiac moving book...hugely entertaining...probably the author's magnum opus.” ―Sunday Times

“Twigger has found a narrative voice all too rare in contemporary travel writing: clear- eyed, unaffected, deadpan, slyly witty and unobtrusively erudite.” ―James Delingpole, Mail on Sunday

About this edition

• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1250052335
• ISBN 13: 9781250052339
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 480