Discover the long arc of England’s river highway and how it moved people, goods, and ideas across the Thames.
This definitive history traces the surge of river navigation from early challenges to the age of canals and railways, showing how law, engineering, and commerce reshaped a nation’s waterways.
This edition together with its rich detail reveals how decisions over locks, tolls, and towpaths changed travel times, costs, and access. It blends narrative with documentary detail, offering a clear view of battles between interest groups, public policy, and technological change. Grounded in sources from the period, it invites readers to understand why the river mattered to towns, industries, and everyday life.
- How the river’s passage was debated, defended, and developed over generations
- Key interventions, from wakeful engineers to aggressive canal schemes
- The evolution of tolls, lockkeeping, and the politics of navigation
- Profiles of places along the Thames and the people who used or managed them
Ideal for readers of British transport history, regional geography, and those curious about how a river becomes a highway for a nation.