You are here: Books

Rivers; A Very Short Introduction

Author: Middleton Our price: ca. € 10,10 1 Not yet published (primary stock) Stock information: This product is currently not in stock. Book | Paperback | 144 pages | English xxxxxxxxxxxxxx | 2012 ISBN-13: 9780199588671 | ISBN-10: 0199588678

     
 

Description

Book Description:

• Wide-ranging account of the impact of rivers on land, human history, animal and plants, and in artistic expression
• Explores the cultural resonance of rivers with their own myths and romance
• Considers the role rivers have ... more Book Description:

• Wide-ranging account of the impact of rivers on land, human history, animal and plants, and in artistic expression
• Explores the cultural resonance of rivers with their own myths and romance
• Considers the role rivers have played in human history from settlements and trade to warfare
• Looks at the human impact upon rivers by dams, cutting of channels, and the effects on wildlife
• A global look at rivers with examples from all continents, including Egypt, India, and Bangladesh
• Part of the bestselling Very Short Introductions series - over five million copies sold worldwide

Rivers have played an extraordinarily important role in creating the world in which we live. They create landscapes and provide water to people, plants and animals, nourishing both town and country. The flow of rivers has enthused poets and painters, explorers and pilgrims. Rivers have acted as cradles for civilization and agents of disaster; a river may be a barrier or a highway, it can bear trade and sediment, culture and conflict. A river may inspire or it may terrify.

This Very Short Introduction is a celebration of rivers in all their diversity. Nick Middleton covers a wide and eclectic range of river-based themes, from physical geography to mythology, to industrial history and literary criticism. Worshipped and revered, respected and feared, rivers reflect both the natural and social history of our planet.


Readership: Students of geography, environmental science, anthropology and cultural studies, as well as general readers interested in learning more about rivers


Table of Contents:

Introduction
1: Nature's driver
2: Strong brown gods
3: Liquid histories
4: Roads that move
5: Rearranged rivers
Epilogue
Further reading

Author Information:

Nick Middleton, Fellow in Geography, St Anne's College, Oxford

Nick Middleton is a geographer, writer, and presenter of television documentaries. He teaches at Oxford University where he is a Fellow of St Anne's College. He has written more than 200 articles and 20 books for a variety of audiences, most on geographical, travel, or environmental themes, including Deserts: A Very Short Introduction (2009). His experience of rivers is wide-ranging. He has floated down the Mekong and water skied on the Congo, bird-watched in the Danube delta and driven the length of the lower Mississippi. His daily relationship with the Thames is close and personal