Robert Winder

Coursing down from one fertile patch of Alpine ice in the jagged heights of Switzerland, 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...

Three Rivers by Robert Winder explores the origins and significance of three of Europe’s greatest rivers: the Rhine, the Rhone, and the Po. These rivers begin in the same geological cradle, a fertile patch of high Alpine ice in the jagged heights of central Switzerland. The impact of this small fact is immense; together, these rivers not only symbolise the...

It is often assumed that the national identity must be a matter of values and ideas. But in Robert Winder's brilliantly-written account, it is a land built on a lucky set of natural ingredients: the island setting that made it maritime; the rain that fed the grass that nourished the sheep that provided the wool, and the wheat fields that...