Read of the Week (Sept 28 to Oct 4): 'Seven Rivers' by Vanessa Taylor

Rivers are the great natural arteries that run through our lives. We have navigated them, dammed them and worshipped at them. From the ancient ecosystems of Egypt to the sinking cities of Shanghai and London, what we do with our rivers tells us about who has power and what we value. Now, when a passion for wild swimming is flourishing but the Amazon is on fire and some of our major river systems are dying, it has never been clearer that rivers are intertwined with humanity at our best and our worst.

Seven Rivers is the story of the Nile, Danube, Niger, Mississippi, Ganga, Yangtze and the Thames. It is a story of imperial frontiers, alluvial gold, kidnappings, slavery, anticolonialism and creation myths. It is about those who've lived and died on these rivers and their endless capacity for invention: their lotus pools and hanging gardens, their gigantic canal systems and elaborate fishing rituals, their absolute powers and their sly rebellions. 

Vanessa Taylor is a historian of rivers, water, and environmental history at the University of Greenwich in Britain. She has published extensively, written for BBC History Magazine, appeared on Channel 4 TV, and is one of the foremost experts on the history of the river Thames.