I don't really know what I expected from this book, but it was so much more than I expected! I really enjoyed how well it blended history, geography and politics. It read well and I didn't find myself getting bogged down in wordy passages that were hard to comprehend. I great read that sucked me in with lots of interesting little passages and facts.

The opening of this book didn’t draw me in. I may come back to it later, but for now, it’s a DNF.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

This is a book written by someone who discovered a niche that interested them and threw themselves wholeheartedly into it. Three Rivers is written with such a clear and undeniable passion for the subject that is it nigh on impossible to resist the pull yourself.

Winder reveals the stories of the river triplets that have been hugely influential on the course of Western European history, the Rhine, the Rhone, and the Po. Not only have they carved their way through the physical landmass of Europe but they have carved their way through its identity, its culture and its history.

Immensely readable but not lacking in information. It can be difficult to balance the two evenly but Winder does a good job here. It's an engaging read and one well worth picking up.

First time reading a book on this topic and it was so interesting! Fascinating and very well-written.

If I am honest I didn’t like this book but I read and it’s about the river

Blurb

A fascinating exploration of the rich and varied cultural worlds shaped by the Rhine, the Rhone and the Po



Three of Europe's greatest rivers share the same geological cradle: one fertile patch of Alpine ice in the jagged heights of central Switzerland. Coursing down through the peaks, the Rhine, the Rhone and the Po gave birth to three different European cultures – German, French and Italian – as they flowed across the continent.

From this shared geological cradle, these waterways have shaped the landscape, influenced the pattern of towns and cities, laid the foundation for economies and created an intricate network of transport, trade and agriculture. From the Romanesque buttresses and vines of Provence to the Wagnerian music of the Rhine and the artistic miracles of Lombardy, the heart of Western Europe – its languages, religion, philosophy, science, politics and art – has been nourished by these waters.

Setting off in the dramatic mountain landscape where this story begins, acclaimed historian Robert Winder traces the rivers' journeys from their increasingly fragile glacial sources, revealing in shimmering detail their impact on Europe's rich history as they flow towards the sea.

A very readable book giving a condensed view of three of Europe’s major rivers, the Rhine, the Rhone and the Po. All rise in the same area of the Swiss alps but then take totally different routes, the Rhine goes north to Germany, the Rhône west and south to France and the Po south and east to Italy. The book covers all the things the rivers have influenced, the geography, the populations and the arts. A book to read, to dip in and out of and reread.
A really good read which I thank NetGalley and the publishers for the arc copy.

4.25 stars

I really enjoyed this book! The book explores the history surrounding three rivers: the Rhine, the Rhone, and the Po. I did not really have an understanding of the histories behind each river until this book, and do recommend

A look at the history & cultures which have developed by the side of three of Europe's greatest rivers: the Rhine, the Rhone & the Po. Following them from their sources in the mountains, we see the way these rivers have shaped the landscape & the lives of those who have lived near them.

I enjoyed this mix of history (I didn't know that Da Vinci was the one to pioneer the canal lock system of raising & lowering the waterline to transport boats), cuisine, (there were times whilst reading when I found myself craving crusty bread with butter or a dish of risotto), & culture. It would make a cracking watch as a series of travel documentaries & I could imagine someone like Michael Portillo turning this book into a two or three series run. My only criticism is that for a book about rivers, it was more than a little ironic that, at times, it became a little dry to read in places but this is a minor quibble.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Elliott & Thompson, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Three Rivers 2nd.
(Perhaps due to previous criticism, suddenly the photographs are clear and easy to read, and annotations are in proper place in text–here is revised review).
This is a very interesting and unique way of presenting European history. I do wish there was a simple map of the rivers and locations of the cities covered in the book. It began with the source and prehistory of the Rhine, Rhone, and Ticino rivers high in the Alps, and followed them to their spillage into their oceans. Along the way it discusses the history and geography of the countries, people, and cities they pass through. It is an excellent overview of Europe for this American who has not studied the continent since 196..... It is a great addition to high school history classes, as well as a review of the history and geography of Europe for the reat of us.

2025 for me is turning out to be the year of the river. It first started with Robert MacFarlane's "Is a River Alive," which asked readers to consider rivers not as resources but as relatives, legal entities, and keepers of memory. Now, my river journey continues with Robert Winder’s "Three Rivers: The Extraordinary Waterways That Made Europe," a sweeping yet tightly focused exploration of how geography—not just politics or personalities—has directed the course of European history. His subject is deceptively simple: three rivers, the Rhone, the Rhine, and the Ticino/Po, all born in the same Alpine massif. His argument, however, is anything but simple. Winder insists that these waterways were not passive landscapes but “active forces” that carved out civilizations, carried faith and ideas, and determined where trade and conflict would flourish. “Without the pattern laid down by these waters,” he writes, “Europe would simply not exist in the form we know it.”

The book excels in showing how the physical shaped the cultural. The Rhine is both frontier and artery, the “bloodstained moat between French and German Europe,” but also a highway for trade and cultural interaction. The Rhone channels Rome, Christianity, and wine into France. The Ticino and Po, less dramatic in profile, still anchor the intellectual flowering of Renaissance Italy and the rice and cheese traditions of the fertile plains. By tracing these currents, Winder reframes familiar epochs—the Reformation, the Napoleonic Wars, even the birth of Gothic horror in the wake of Tambora’s eruption—as phenomena inseparable from the rivers that carried people, armies, and ideas.

Winder’s storytelling is a strength. He delights in overlooked figures like Jean-Pierre Perraudin, a chamois hunter whose observations made him one of glaciology’s unacknowledged founders. He makes room for Kaspar Stockalper, a 17th-century trader whose control of the Simplon Pass helped shape Swiss neutrality, and Johann Gottfried Tulla, whose “rectification” of the Rhine foreshadowed modern international cooperation. These biographical sketches ensure that geography never overwhelms humanity and prevent the book from drifting into abstraction.

The narrative is thematic rather than chronological, and at times the Rhine dominates the stage, but this imbalance reflects the river’s historical weight rather than any lapse in Winder’s methodology. What emerges is a collage—an assemblage of wars, inventions, artworks, and natural catastrophes—that consistently flows back to its source in the Alps.

Where the book resonates most is in its relevance to current environmental concerns. The same rivers that once carried Charlemagne’s dream of unity now face the attrition of climate change. Glaciers are retreating, riverbeds are running dry, and nuclear plants along the Rhone are struggling with overheated waters. Winder warns that the health of these rivers is not a quaint local issue but a continental one—a warning that is equally relevant in nearly every country in the world.

"Three Rivers" is not a comprehensive history, nor does it pretend to be. It is instead a bracing reminder that geography remains an unrelenting force in human affairs —and that understanding this force has never been more urgent. In an age when we often think of ourselves as masters of our environment, Winder shows us that we remain, as much as our ancestors, creatures shaped by the waters that flow around us. Ultimately, Three Rivers is not just history—it's also a call to recognize that the health of Europe's rivers is inseparable from the health of European civilization itself. The same currents that carried Caesar's legions and Luther's ideas now carry the consequences of our choices downstream to future generations.

This review is based on an advance reader copy provided by NetGalley and Elliott & Thompson.

This fascinating and well-written book presents the reader with portraits of three of western Europe's great rivers all of which have their source in the Saint Gotthard Massif, Switzerland: the rivers Rhine, Rhone, and Ticino, the latter being a main tributary of the river Po.

The author considers each river in relation to the geomorphology of the area through which it flows, drawing attention to the opportunities the rivers and their valleys have given to man, for example providing routes leading far inland, depositing fertile soils, as sources of food and power. Much of this would be familiar to a devotee of environmental determinism. However, Winder also describes how, from early times, men have used technological advances to adapt and fundamentally change the character of each river, and in different ways, depending, for example, on the political situation throughout the whole river basin or the social and cultural background of the population - Germanic or Latin, Protestant or Roman Catholic, wine or beer drinking. This is the more pragmatic "possibilist" philosophical approach as, after all, man is an integral part of the environment, and has made different uses of each of the rivers over time, including as a trade route, a source of irrigation and power ... The wealth generated in each of the three river valleys, the scope for travel and enlightened exchange of ideas within, between and beyond the valleys, and the development of the arts throughout the area have all contributed significantly to the social wellbeing of the countries through which the rivers flow, and further afield.

Winder considers how men perceive rivers. Are they boundaries, or the centre towards which men gravitate? Over the centuries, for example, France generally perceived the Rhine to be a boundary, whereas German states' objective had been to possess both banks of the river. The reader cannot fail to note how such a difference in perception has led to so many wars. But the shared need to manage the waters and the threats posed more recently by climate change and pollution is shown to have had a unifying effect.

The reader is left to consider how climate change has affected the glaciers that feed these three important rivers; they are retreating, potentially reducing flow, and the greater frequency of heatwaves gives rise to drought, whilst more unpredictable heavy rainstorms give rise to severe flooding along the river banks.

Three major rivers and their importance in history. The author decided to write this book whilst studying a map on a train. He realised that three great rivers, the Rhine, the Rhone and the Ticino, started from the same area in the Swiss Alps. He goes on to explain their routes towards the sea, how these routes affected the civilisations they ran through and famous people who lived along their routes. His own photographs from his travels are included for interest. A fascinating read.

"Three Rivers" is a very interesting history/geography of Western Europe told through 3 rivers rising close to each other in the Swiss Alps. The Rhine, Rhone and Ticino/Po all flow in different directions and have both differences and similarities. Robert Winder writes with a lightness of touch which makes the book very readable. There are some surprising facts and dispelling of some myths. Perhaps this should be a background school/college/university text for scholars of history and geography?

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Three Rivers is an outstanding book written by Robert Windermere. It tells the story of the Rhine, the Rhone and the Po intertwining the history and the geography of these three vital rivers and making this book so interesting. My history of some of the parts of Europe that these rivers flow through is a bit sketchy to say the least and I enjoyed the historical facts that this book taught me. My geographical knowledge is somewhat better as I have visited the European countries that these rivers play such a big part in.
Interesting and informative I can highly recommend this book.

An interesting book, in which the author's passion for the subject shines through the narrative. there is a lot of information to take in and much ground covered- all starting from the same area in modern day Switzerland. The writing is very accessible and doesn't read like a text book or a travel guide, but inevitably, it only skims the surface of the history and geography of these rivers and their civilisations. I did find the numerous starred sections with extra information to be quite distracting and wonder if these would have been better incorporated into the main text.

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.