Three Rivers is an astounding exploration of the rivers that cradle Europe. The blurb is accurate, but doesn’t go anywhere near the depth of exploration or development of ideas that flow through the lands onto the pages and into my brain.

This book singlehandedly sorted out my understanding of European politics from the Romans through the Holy Roman Empire, the Hapsburgs, to Napoleon, and right the way through to last year. It starts gently, dragging me in with a loving description of the mountains, or should I say mountain, where all three originate. The actual sources are a bit murky in some cases, but the Ticino runs into the Po, and the land drains off into the Rhone, even if it doesn’t have a ‘source’. Trust the Rhine to be more orderly. Geology, meteorology, the water cycle all play their part and I’m in my element.

It helps if you have a reasonable knowledge of Western Europe’s geography. If you didn’t ‘do’ one of these rivers at school, you may not hold its course in your head. For me, the Rhone is ingrained, with vaguer knowledge of bits of the Rhine but not exactly how they join together. Dodgy ground with the Ticino-Po, saved by visiting Venice by train a few years ago. I now know what I was looking at over breakfast, and why the landscape was so flat. You may wish to have a map at your side when reading - saves turning back tot he one at the front.

The geography and geology provide the resources, the bones, but the history brings everything together, plus music, poetry, art — and wine. Mr Winder writes his historical summary in a glorious sweep, bringing the places to life and the personalities to your reading room.

And between World Wars 1 and 2 we look at the impact of technology growth on the Rhine, and the dire state of its pollution (it was always a sewer) that brought the countries dependent on it to work together for the common good. We forget how young the EU is — how fragile the agreements between nations. And reviewing the history from this standpoint, it is only too clear that history repeats itself, and we never learn.

Let’s hope we do, this time. Brilliant book, much more than expected.

Avery interesting and informative read.
It charts the influence of three of Europes major rivers, the Rhone, Ticino/Po and the Rhine.
It explores the geography, the culture, the politics and conflicts that occured along their lengths.
The book covers man's attempts to control flooding It to control the rivers , the use of them as a resource for power etc and the effects of global warming in the regions watered by them.
Very readable.

This is an engaging dip into three rivers that start in the same area but cross very different landscapes and come out in very different seas. They each have their own distinct 'personality' and character influenced by the landscape and influencing the landscape in turn.

Chapters cover such wide ranging topics as food in the Po valley, to music inspired by the rivers, to the countless wars and boundaries that the waters have seen. The author does a skilful job at linking everything back to these rivers, to showing how they shape, inspire and frustrate the humans who have made their lives along their banks. It's a micro look at two thousand years plus of history across Europe.

There is also a strong warning about climate change across the book, as the writer demonstrates with stark clarity the efforts the modern world is having on these rivers, the glaciers and all the landscape around them. It is a call, a warning and hopefully one that is listened to - although I'm not holding my breath.

It is almost too ambitious an undertaking - each chapter barely scratched the surface of what the topic had to offer. Still waters run deep, but so do rushing rivers, lakes, waterfalls and everything else that these three rivers cross. Chapters on poetry, painting and music offer a refreshing change to the history of war that otherwise cuts through this book, and so many books of history. I also really liked the photos scattered through the book, as well as the musings by the writer as he personally visited some of the sites mentioned - at times, this is more a philosophical travelogue rather than history, but its stunning for it.

Robert Winder has written a fascinating and informative biography of three rivers that all have their source in the same area in the Swiss alps. The Rhone flows to and through France, the Rhine flows to and through Germany and the Po flows to and through Italy. They divide and unite western Europe. So much history and so many anecdotes are included in the 300 odd pages; I learned a lot and was fascinated by most of it. Written in a readable and understandable style with some cute turns of phrase. A very good book. With thanks for the e-ARC to read and review.

The author initiates by stating a reminder of the way in which the differences between Europe’s nations, however clear and clung to,
disguise a profound similarity. There’s no chicken-and-egg mystery about cities, people settled near water.
Three major rivers, flowing in different directions, carving out the three valleys that gave rise to three great civilizations:
French - German - Italian, and it was worth having a closer look at them.
Without the pattern laid by these waters, Europe would not exist the way we know it today.
While tracing down the courses of these continent-shaping waterways, the author found a particular story to tell us.
A broadband collage of Europe’s past and future.

I’m European and I know some of the places the author talks about in this book, that made it all relatable and more interesting.
Geography has always been one of my great interests, and this book has a strong geographical content intertwined with history from the past,
present and future. I learned many anecdotes reading this book, and awareness about how fragile our continent is.

I enjoyed reading and definitely recommend.
Thank you for this opportunity.