num_pages: 328
description: The author takes us on an unexpected journey up the Danube where we encounter a remarkable and unfamiliar worldThe magnificent Danube both cuts across and connects central Europe flowing through and alongside ten Romania Ukraine Moldova Bulgaria Serbia Croatia Hungary Slovakia Austria and Germany. Travelling its full length from east to west against the rivers flow Nick Thorpe embarks on an inspiring year-long journey that leads to a new perspective on Europe today. Thorpes account is personal conversational funny immediate and uniquely observanteverything a reader expects in the best travel writing. Immersing himself in the Danubes waters during daily morning swims Thorpe likewise becomes immersed in the histories of the lands linked by the river. He observes the rivers ecological conditions some discouraging and others hopeful and encounters archaeological remains that whisper of human communities sustained by the river over eight millennia. Most fascinating of all are the ordinary and extraordinary people along the waythe ferrymen and fishermen workers in the fields shopkeepers beekeepers waitresses smugglers and border policemen legal and illegal immigrants and many more. For readers who anticipate their own journeys on the Danube as well as those who only dream of seeing the great river this book will be a unique and treasured guide.
language: English
title: The Danube: A Journey Upriver from the Black Sea to the Black Forest
publisher: Yale University Press