Seven Rivers: A Journey Through the Currents of Human History

Vanessa Taylor

ISBN 10: 1474617239 / ISBN 13: 9781474617239

Published by W&N, 2025

About this Item

Brand New! Fast Delivery This is an International Edition and ship within 24-48 hours. Deliver by FedEx and Dhl, & Aramex, UPS, & USPS and we do accept APO and PO BOX Addresses. Order can be delivered worldwide within 6-10 days and we do have flat rate for up to 2LB. Extra shipping charges will be requested if the Book weight is more than 5 LB. This Item May be shipped from India, United states & United Kingdom. Depending on your location and availability.

Seller Inventory # IBD 9781474617239

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Seven Rivers: A Journey Through the Currents of Human History
• Publisher: W&N
• Publication Date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1474617239
• ISBN 13: 9781474617239
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: International Edition
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

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.

About the Author

Vanessa Taylor is a historian of rivers, water and environmental history at the University of Greenwich. She has published extensively, written for BBC History Magazine and appeared on Channel 4, and is one of the foremost experts on the history of the river Thames. She was raised in the watersheds of the Mersey, Thames, Los Angeles and Stour rivers, and now lives in London.