From Library Journal
Editor Mancall's 1990 version of this book was entitled Roll On, Rivers: Rivers in the Life of the American People (National Council on the Aging); this latest revision contains more of the stories and legends he's collected since. From those who consider rivers to be the work of God to those who fear they will be destroyed by the work of humans, these waterways have been at the forefront of virtually every major political, historical, and social turning point in American history. The editors have taken writings ranging from Thomas Jefferson to Oscar Hammerstein III that feature rivers as their centerpiece. The result is a mixed bag that will appeal to any reader living on or near a river, as well as to readers looking for a truly eclectic collection of literature. Recommended for large public libraries and for those located in cities where rivers play an important role in the daily lives of residents.?Joseph L. Carlson, Vandenberg Air Force Base Lib., Cal.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature
The fight is on for American rivers -- the fight to remove some of the dams and some of the dirt we've stuck in them over the last four centuries. This book reminds us in vivid and delightful ways why this is literally a fight for one big chunk of the American soul.

Gregg Easterbrook, author of A Moment on the Earth
Land of Rivers is a rich, evocative expression of the power and majesty of America's waterways. It shows the role that clean rivers once held in our nation's soul, and will hold again.

Sue Hubbell, author of Broadsides from the Other Orders: A Book of Bugs
Not since Bakeless's Eyes of Discovery have we had a book this good, a book written by those who have been shaped by the rivers in their lives.

Book Description
Rivers run deeply through the American consciousness. Indians speculated about their origins in myths and legends. Settlers and adventurers exulted in their promise. Poets, artists, and songwriters paid tribute to their beauty. Engineers exploited their potential and conservationists pleaded for their protection. The diversity of waterways, the range of their idiosyncracies, and the variety of responses they have inspired evokes the richness and complexity of the North American continent. For everyone who has listened to a river's song or floated along its surface or played on its banks, here is a book of images and voices which does justice to the beauty and diversity of rivers. The selections range from Samuel Sewall's mournful praise of the River Merrymak to John Wesley Powell's triumphant narrative on exploring the Colorado River, from Walt Whitman's ode on crossing Brooklyn Ferry to Oscar Hammerstein's melodic tribute to Ol' Man River. More than fifty descriptions, meditations, and songs, each with a brief introductory note, are balanced by sixty illustrations, from the elegant landscape paintings of Albert Bierstadt and Frederick Church to the haunting photographs of Ansel Adams. This book captures the beauty and diversity of America's rivers with sixty illustrations and more than fifty descriptions, meditations, and songs, each with an introductory note. The writers range from Edgar Allen Poe to Mark Twain, from Walt Whitman to Annie Dillard; the artists, from Thomas Eakins to Ansel Adams.

From the Publisher
Foreword by Edward Hoagland. Peter C. Mancall is Professor of History at the University of Kansas. He is the author of Deadly Medicine: Indians and Alcohol in Early America andValley of Opportunity: Economic Culture along the Upper Susquehanna, both from Cornell. Edward Hoagland is the author of fifteen books, including Walking the Dead Diamond River and Seven Rivers West. He lives in Vermont, teaches at Bennington College, and is the editor of the Penguin Nature Classics series

FROM THE PUBLISHER

For everyone who has listened to river's song or floated along its surface or played on its banks, here is a book of images and voices which does justice to the beauty and diversity of rivers. The selection range from Samuel Sewall's mournful praise of the River Merrymak to John Wesley Powell's triumphant narrative of exploring the Colorado River, from Walt Whitman's ode on crossing Brooklyn Ferry to Oscar Hammerstein's melodic tribute to Ol'Man River. More than fifty descriptions, meditations, and songs, with brief introductory notes, are balanced by sixty illustrations, including the elegant landscape paintings of Albert Bierstadt and Frederic Church and the haunting photographs of Ansel Adams.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal