Water Hist (2009) 1:79–80

DOI 10.1007/s12685-009-0005-4

BOOK REVIEW

Kaleidoscopic perspective on river histories

Christoph Mauch and Thomas Zeller (eds): Rivers in history:
perspectives on waterways in Europe and North America, University
of Pittsburg Press (Pittsburgh, Pa., 2008), ISBN 978-0-8229-5988-5
(Paperback edition) US price: $27.95

Johann Tempelhoff

Published online: 8 July 2009

Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009

This is an important study in that, apart from exhibiting interesting examples of com-
parative historical writing, the ten chapters on North American and European waterways
provide a combined kaleidoscopic perspective on waterways—transformed in historio-
graphical contexts—from static to dynamic features on the landscape of past human
activity.
What starts out as a set of discourses by scholars focusing on a myriad of themes in river
histories becomes a collaborative work of art and insight highlighting some of the major
distinctions in views on waterways between an old and deeply cultured Europe, on the one
hand, and a young and pioneering North America, notable for its enterprising spirit of
innovation, on the other.
The participants in the book project, which had its origins in a conference of the German
Historical Institute in Washington in 2003, are mostly well established and respected
figures in environmental and water history. They give good account of themselves in this
highly readable book.
There are examples of comparative historical writing in chapters by Dorothy Zeisler-
Vralstad who compares aspects of hydrological development in the Mississippi and Volga
rivers from a cultural and artistic perspective, and Charles E Glosman, working on pol-
lution and energy generation in the rivers of Yorkshire and the Ruhr between 1850 and
1990. The levels of comparison of the authors are rich and textured, providing an array of
historical detail that highlights the bright and dark features of riverscapes in different, yet
similar environments.
David Blackbourn’s contribution, dealing with the issue of reframing rivers in modern
German history, tells the story of ‘benign modernisation’ with ‘unintended consequences’
that suggest how difficult it is to ‘conquer’ nature and try to recover part of nature lost. The
author makes a case out for the need to assess why rivers were changed in former times to
suit human needs. He also makes some suggestions on why realistic contemporary envi-
ronmental values deserve consideration. Another interesting contribution is the chapter
co-authored by art and design specialist Timothy M Collins and the historians Edward K

J. Tempelhoff (&)
North-West University, ‘‘Mafikeng’’ Vaal Triangle Campus, Vanderbijlpark, Gauteng, South Africa
e-mail: johann.tempelhoff@nwu.ac.za

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80 J. Tempelhoff

Muller and Joel A Tarr on the transformation of Pittsburgh’s Allegheny, Monongahela and
Ohio rivers from hardworking conveyances of solids to dignified aesthetic features shaping
the contemporary urban landscape. Both studies are representative of mature scholarship
and considerable insight and should be of value to scholars interested in seeking themes to
investigate in river historical writing.
Some of the more experimental chapters in the work are those of Thomas Ute Hasenöhrl
and Steven Hoelscher. The first author’s focus is on attempts at coping with the use of
German rivers to produce energy, instil a consciousness of nature and simultaneously
promote tourism. Working on the Lech River, it becomes apparent that the levels of
complexity in the narrative are representative of discourses of conflicting interests and
priorities. Hoelscher’s study on tourism, but especially HH Bennet’s remarkable photo-
graphs of the Wisconsin Dells dating back to the 1880s, is an outstanding interpretation of
visual material and the powerful capabilities of recording landscape and human interac-
tions in a striking manner. This is a chapter well worth the read, for its text and lucid
illustrations.
In their contributions, Thomas Lekan, Isabelle Backouche and Jacky Girel focus on
more conventional historical themes. The elevation of the Seine in Paris from the mid-
eighteenth to the nineteenth century tells the story of the transformation of an urban river
environment from a local venue to a national landmark. It also deals with the characteristic
alteration of its attraction to different classes in the space of a century, typical of the ever-
changing qualities of urban space. Lekan also focuses on historical space, but his pro-
tagonist is the Rhine. This chapter is notable for its thorough detail and sound exposition
on perspectives on the river in the second half of the twentieth century. Girel gives
attention to the cultural/technological innovations of dikes and reclaiming river lands along
the Isére River in Alpine Piedmont. A praiseworthy element of this study is the fact that the
author successfully compounds an extensive period of time by highlighting the relevant
changes in hydrological thinking on the manner in which humans interact with the river.
Christoph Mauch and Thomas Zeller’s ‘‘Mauch’s’’ chapter, at the start of the book,
provides interesting insights into river histories. The authors point to the difference in
perspective of European scholars and their North American counterparts when it comes to
researching and writing river histories. The wealth of North American historiography on
rivers, they argue, is the result of the important role played by water in the arid American
West. There is also more space for water politics and water wars in an era of dynamic
expansion. In contrast, in European scholarship, they suggest that the focus is more on the
environmental and cultural aspects of the river as subject of investigation. Observations of
this nature are important for the historiographical understanding of the emerging direction
of scholarship now emerging in the field of river histories.
Rivers in history is well worth reading. It makes a valuable contribution to a field that is
currently growing, as historians grapple with the problem of aquatic environments and
change caused by humankind’s inherent ability to innovate and use technology to alter
nature.

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