Rating: **** 4 stars

Rob Bowden,
The Ganges (A River Journey Series)
Hodder Wayland, 2003.

(reviewed with Simon Scoones, The Amazon, same series and publisher)

Two great rivers, each loaded with picturesque images, and each the home of blind dolphins, are traced from source to delta. The organising of their texts under the headings Nature, History, People, Economy and Change enables the authors to deal in concise detail with different aspects of these headings as we meander down river, and lets the reader follow one particular strand at a time without having to ramble through too much fascinating irrelevance. The device is called ‘Themed Text’.

Amazon chooses to start at historic Machu Picchu. We visit the car-free Iquitos, lament the dismal contribution and fate of early missionaries, learn the impact of the oil and mining industries, and fear for the future of the forest of whose nature we are plentifully informed.

Ganges - life-giver to Northern India, death-bringer to Bangladesh, receives similar treatment and much space is devoted to its overt religious significance. In Bangladesh ‘peddle-powered’ rickshaws splash through the flooding delta.

Excellent photographs and simple relevant maps enliven and reinforce two strong texts, and the ‘theme’ idea works well, enabling the books to be read in series as well as in parallel. It seems we can also look forward to the Nile, Rhine, Mississippi and Yangtze.

Ted Percy