The Rhine

The Rhine is one of the world’s great rivers — a waterway that has shaped Europe’s borders, culture and identity for more than two millennia.
Once the outer frontier of the Roman Empire, it now flows 800 miles from the social‑democratic lowlands of the Netherlands, through the industrial and political heartlands of Germany and France, to the wealthy Alpine strongholds of Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

For five years, writer Ben Coates lived beside one of the Rhine’s major channels in Rotterdam, crossing it daily and swimming or sailing in its tributaries. In The Rhine, he sets out by bicycle from its mouth on the North Sea, following the river upstream through four countries to its icy Alpine source. Along the way, he explores how this mighty river has influenced European history, culture, trade and identity — and how ideas, people and power have flowed along its banks for centuries.

Blending vivid travelogue with offbeat history, Coates uncovers the stories, landscapes and communities that make the Rhine far more than a river. It is a living thread that has helped shape a continent.