The Rhine: Following Europe's Greatest River from Amsterdam to the Alps

by Ben Coates

From rowing the canals of Amsterdam to riding a cow through the Alps, via Cold War nuclear bunkers, raucous Gay Pride parades, tranquil Lake Constance and snowy mountain climbs, The Rhine blends travelogue and offbeat history to tell the fascinating story of how a great river helped shape a continent.

Shortlisted for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year award

The Rhine is one of the world's greatest rivers. Once forming the outer frontier of the Roman Empire, it flows 800 miles from the social democratic playground of the Netherlands, through the industrial and political powerhouses of Germany and France, to the wealthy mountain fortresses of Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

For five years, Ben Coates lived alongside a major channel of the river in Rotterdam, crossing it daily, swimming and sailing in its tributaries. In The Rhine, he sets out by bicycle from the Netherlands where it enters the North Sea, following it through Germany, France and Liechtenstein, to where its source in the icy Alps. He explores the impact that the Rhine has had on European culture and history and finds out how influences have flowed along and across the river, shaping the people who live alongside it.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, History, Germany, Audiobook, Memoir, European History

1 pages, Audio CD

Published September 14, 2021

Reviews

[Left Coast Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Rhine is a topic near and dear to my heart -- I once lived two blocks away from it, and my retirement plan is to buy a little apartment somewhere along the middle stretch and enjoy reading and drinking wine on my little terrace during the six days a year of warm sunshine. I looked forward to this highly-lauded book. The fundamental problem is that Coates isn't a good writer.

The classics in travel writing tend to follow one of two formulas. In one model, the author is extremely skilled at teasing conversations out of random strangers and just wanders around doing exactly this (viz. Steinbeck's Travels with Charlie). In the other method, the author sets off, pre-armed with extensive knowledge about a region's history and attractions, and visits these sites, explaining their relevance and linking past to present (pretty much anything by Colin Thubron.) The best travel writers manage to do both (Thubron again.)

Coats seems to belong to the latter category, but lacks the skill to connect past to present. It's obvious he's done his reading, but he seems to top out at the Wikipedia level when it comes to research. He demonstrates a rare talent for unearthing inane quotes that are in no way enlightening. In his tedious discussion of eau de Cologne, he writes:

Farina's light, citris-based scents proved hugely popular, attracting (if local legend was to be believed) the attention of customers including Napoleon, Goethe, Beethoven and a bevy of passing emperors, tsars and kings. "At last," Voltaire declared upon smelling it, "a fragrance that inspires the spirit!"

So far as I know, Napoleon, Goethe and Beethoven's claims to fame were entirely unrelated to their tastes in bottled effluvia, and I have been up until now unaware of the role perfume played in inspiring Voltaire's literary creations. Thanks, Mr. Coats, for expanding my worldview (or for copying a paragraph nearly verbatim from the company's marketing materials; I don't know which.)

He's also a repeat offender with bad similes. To pick a couple at random, from his extended essay on the Ruhrgebiet:

"Around the corner was a recycling plant, with a crane lifting a massive tangle of cables from a barge. It looked like rusty spaghetti."

"Once-mighty industries sinking as fast as a lump of iron ore tossed into a polluted river."

Then there's basic lack of trust. He spends half of his time explaining that heavy industry is a thing of the past, and the other half complaining about the smoking chimneys and "burnt-metal taste" of the very air he breathes. Which is it?

He does interact with people along the way, but he seems unable to learn anything interesting about them or connect their comments to the landscape.

And finally, my pet peeve: I really can't stand travel books in which the author feels compelled to defend their choice of project over and over and over. Wanna walk the length of Hadrian's Wall? Fine; explain why in the first chapter and then shut up about it. Paddle down the Zambezi? We don't need constant reminders of how awesome the Zambezi is. And in this case, we don't need a humorless, second-rate journalist to remind us every fifteen pages of the important role the Rhine has played in European history.

On the positive side, the book moves along fairly briskly and is clearly organized.

Minor quibble, but perhaps illustrative of larger problems: If he were following the Rhine, wouldn't he go from the Alps to Amsterdam rather than vice versa?

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honesty did not think I would give this book a two star rating. But hey, it happened.

Coates' book is about his traveling the Rhine, though he starts in Amsterdam. There are some interesting bits but

(1) I can't decide Coates is trying to be funny or insulting or both at points. If he is going for funny, it fails.

(2) He sounds like a superior snob in this book. I don't think he is. The writing makes him sound like one.

(3) There is no sense of place or time or season

(4) The appearing, disappearing, reappearing dog

[Lyn Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

My reading of this book pretty much coincided with a trip up the Rhine on a cruise boat, a very different experience from that of Ben Coates who rode, walked, trained and stayed long the river from Amsterdam to its source and took some months to do it, whereas we went from Amsterdam to Basel, stopped where the cruise boats stop and saw as much as we could while the boat was berthed.
I was very happy to find the book in an excellent Amsterdam bookshop before we left for the cruise. I’d previously read a bit of German history, a bit about Dutch art and Simon Winder’s Franconia, a history that covered many of the areas on the tour. Coates added new information on contemporary economic and political issues and the useful brief statement that the river was both a connecting link through trade a and traffic along it, but a barrier from side to side, a border fought over for centuries.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

It has been one of the key trade routes for over 2000 years now with a history going back before the Roman Empire. However, it was in the 1800s that the rise of Germany nationalism meant that the Rhine grew in significance in that country and was seen as a source of German Strength. I had always considered the Rhine purely a German River, and that is probably why. Until reading this book I hadn’t even thought any more about it. It turns out that it also flows past and through a number of other European countries. Starting in his new home country of the Netherlands, Coates will take us on an 800-mile ride and run from the mouth at Hoeck van Holland where it flows into the North Sea all the way to the source in the Alps.

This river now has 50 million people living along its length and as he passes through notable cities then we are told some of their histories with a little on what he thinks of the place at the time. It is full of relevant snippets of information, for example, I didn’t know that Basle had a port and access to the sea via the Rhine and there is actually a Swiss merchant navy!

I did wonder when reading it that if he had undertaken the journey in stages. Sometimes he seems to have his dog with him and other times not, as well as switching between running and cycling. It did feel a bit disjointed because of this. He does occasionally come up with the odd amusing moment, but he is no Bill Bryson. It is a reasonable blend of travel, history and personal experience and a reminder that sometimes you don’t need to travel far to discover things. 3.5 stars

[Sho · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love travel writing and I particularly like travel writing with a theme (Attention all Shipping for example or America Unchained) so a book following the Rhine is an attractive proposition for me. I live in relative close proximity, and have cycled along it (more than once) from Düsseldorf to Cologne.
Coates lives in Rotterdam and decided to follow the river from where it empties into the North Sea back along to it's source high up in the Alps.

It's not clear how he travelled for most of the time, although there are periods where it's clear he's on a bike. But anyway, that's not too important (although with travel writing I do expect some details of the actual travelling.) I would have also liked a little more indication of the time of year, he swam in the river in Basel and it was cold but I'd have liked to know if it was summer, winter? spring? (I think it was September)

So there are interesting snippets about the places along the Rhine, it's a delta in The Netherlands so it's not easy to define a route, I think, but once you get on the Rhine proper it's plain sailing. (sorry, not sorry). I've been to a lot of places on the route so I found those parts particularly interesting, it's good to see places through the eyes of others, I think.

All in all an entertaining read. But why only two stars? Well. As I mentioned, I live close to the Rhine in Germany and I wasn't particularly enamoured of the details of Coates' trip while in these parts. He mentions that Germans like to eat a schnitzel sandwich. Yeah but no. It is technically a "sandwich" but it is always, no exceptions, sandwiched in a bread roll. The type with soft white dough filling and a crispy exterior (I think in America they're called Kaiser Rolls if that helps?). So that grated, there were a few little details like that.

The rivalry, which is intense and bitter and never ending, between Düsseldorf and Cologne is glossed over - it is a deep and ingrained rivalry that permeates everything from beer to Karneval to football to politics.

But that would really only reduce it to 3 stars. No. The reason that I give it two is purely stylistic.

The anecdotes about Coates' journey are in the past tense. Good. The stories about the Rhine (eg. how Rhinestones got their name) are in the past tense. But every bloody thing else is in the past tense too and it's jarring since the cities, the rivers, the people (probably) and so on are still there. As I was reading I kept finding myself correcting the language and that's why two stars, because it mangled what was a pretty interesting book.

Also I could have done without the tedious constant references to how everything is different to The Netherlands - we get it. You live in Rotterdam.

[Valerie Poore · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's almost impossible to overstate how much I enjoyed this phenomenal book. It has hooked me from the day I started reading it until this evening, when ignoring all sorts of other commitments, I sat and read until I reached the last page.

I use the word phenomenal without exaggeration as Ben Coates must have undertaken a staggering amount of research in his aim to tell the reader about the history, geography, art and human interest stories behind the hundreds of miles of Rhineland he covered in a personal adventure of cycling, hiking and boating along the length of the Rhine.

However, this is far from being a dry reference book. Ben's humour had me chuckling frequently and laughing out loud often enough to have my partner asking to be read the offending (as in relevant) sections. His observations are astute, his self-mockery is well refined and his sense of the absurd is right up my street. Some particularly precious gems include the sections where his dog joins him on his adventures and when he (Ben, not the dog) goes cow riding. I cannot remember a book that has simultaneously taught me so much and been so entertaining. Ever.

The story begins in Amsterdam, but the journey has its real beginnings in my own home town, Rotterdam. I recognise so well that 'I wonder where this goes' curiosity that inspired him to start following the Rhine from its many-tentacled mouth to its source. I love this river, I live on it, and yet I feel as if I formerly knew nothing about it that couldn't be scratched on a postcard. Now I've learnt about the significance of Dorestad, or Wijk bij Duurstede, as it is now known; these days a relatively modest satellite of Utrecht of which I'd barely heard, but historically the trading equivalent of the Port of Rotterdam. I've learnt what really happened at Arnhem in Operation Market Place, why Bonn never felt comfortable with its capital of Germany mantle and how poor Strasbourg and the people of the Alsace have been passed from pillar to post as European leaders squabbled over whether the border really ran along the Rhine or not. I've read about characters I recognise, about customs I don't, and about places I want to visit, such as Lichtenstein and Lake Toma (Tomasee) the beautiful source of the Rhine.

Altogether, this is a fascinating, funny, informative, wise and compelling book. Ben Coates writes beautifully with marvellous imagery and a great gift for witty metaphor, so it's a pleasure to read as well. As a political speech writer, lobbyist, journalist and aid worker, Ben has a great facility for presenting a comprehensible overview of political events and change that makes the book thought-provoking too. I cannot recommend The Rhine highly enough for anyone who is interested in both personal travelogue and history and, well, just about everything. In fact I don't just recommend it; I would urge everyone with a smidgin of interest in both Europe's past and its future to read it. It is a wonderful book about the river, its life and its towns, but it's much much more than that. I've learnt so much, I'm now wondering what Ben's next adventures will teach me.

[Ira Therebel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ben Coates decides to travel along Rhine from Amsterdam up to the Alps in Switzerland.

His idea for the book is really good. He tells us about his trip as well as how Rhine, one of the greatest rivers in Europe, has influenced each region through history. We get to know the role the river played in industrial developments, wars, politics and culture. It was a slow read for me but I liked the diversity of information and all of it being about Rhine. If I ever go to Europe around Rhine I will have to look this book up again.

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This combination of history and travelogue was neither particularly good history nor particularly good travelogue. It's a brilliant idea -- a history of one of Europe's greatest rivers, which has clearly played a major role in the region's history since ancient times -- but unfortunately, Coate's execution is clumsy. He frequently "overhears" cliched statements by fellow travelers. We learn little of how he traveled (there's some biking, some swimming, some running, and maybe some trains, but no coherent through-line) and encounter no specific interesting people that he meets along the way. The history is all pretty standard stuff; Coates is clearly not a historian. Perhaps the book works best as an argument for a strong European Union: Coates is a Brit living in the Netherlands, traveling across barely-marked borders from the Netherlands to Germany, France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Austria, and writing in a world where Brexit and Trump are realities.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part travelogue, part history lesson, this book is the result of Coates's decision to travel the length of the Rhine from the Netherlands all the way to its source in the Alps. At times he comes across as quirky and truly interested in the scenery and culture surrounding him on his trip, at others as obnoxious and judgmental. The humour, at least for me, failed to land more often than not. Still, the subject alone made this a decently entertaining read for the most part.

[Shiloah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting & I enjoyed his style of writing. He is definitely not in love with the Germans. I could tell he was trying to be fair but couldn’t overcome his prejudices that were generational from his Dad’s experience fighting in WW2.

[Therese · Rating 4 out of 5]

A travelogue about a thirty-something British guy living in the Netherlands who decides to travel along the Rhine River from its mouth near Amsterdam to its source in the Swiss Alps. He ice skates, bikes, runs, walks, swims, and goes by boat and train along the river through the numerous countries it crosses - the Netherlands, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Lichtenstein, and Switzerland again. Along the way, he intersperses his own experiences, observations, and overheard conversations during his travels with excursions into the history, politics, culture, and societies of the places he passes through.

These are all countries and areas that I've either visited and loved or would love to visit, so I was excited about the territory covered. The author is often funny and makes sharp, witty observations that underline the absurdities of human nature and of tourists and the culture of tourism especially. That said, sometimes I found it a little hard to identify with him since he's so athletic and comes across as someone who's gotten to do all kinds of aggravatingly cool and interesting things in his life, which makes me feel jealous, even if he's not braggy about it. (In general I tend to get annoyed when people on the internet start slinging around accusations of privilege and making derogatory assumptions about other people based on their supposed unearned luck. I hate that, because you never know what personal obstacles people have quietly overcome through courage and hard work and patience despite the appearance of having been born with a silver spoon in their mouths and having their accomplishments handed to them on a platter.)

His travel anecdotes also include a fair amount of him drinking a lot and being hung over, which again I can't identify with that much, being a middle-aged mom and a lightweight who doesn't really enjoy excessive drinking. There is also a lot of mentions of him eating tons of delicious, fattening food, which I would love to eat too but don't really have his metabolism or athletic lifestyle to handle it, so again, jealousy!

His remarks on politics were also often kind of depressing, even if they were interesting, since the book comes out of our recent era of the rise of the authoritarian populist Far Right in Europe and the U.S., with its accompanying racism, xenophobia, hate-mongering, and polarization. It was a lot of painful realism relative to the pleasant, escapist travelogue that I was hoping for in taking up the book! But, overall, if you like reading travel books, this one was pretty decent, entertaining, and interesting, if not my favorite ever.

[Christine Puckett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this to get ready for our river cruise. Had some interesting history about the area and impressions of the people. Author was funny--comparing his British background to that of the locals.

[RONALD MELCHER · Rating 2 out of 5]

I learned a lot from Ben Coates "The Rhine" and think I got a reasonable sense of the current political and cultural climate of the region but geez, this book was hard to get through .

I'm afraid the problem is the author's writing falls short in many ways. The beginning of the book which details the trip's start in the Netherlands is particularly slow and plodding. I found it confusing as to where the author was relative to the overall trip and where he was heading . I did not get the sense of linear progression, but instead felt like descriptions of multiple day trips were patched together . The author provides a lot of historical context but way too often the details of his exact experience are murky.

The middle chapters of the book which take the reader through Germany and France were the best part for me, with many interesting and detailed explanations of the regions history and current situation.

I have a big interest in the subject matter which propelled me along, without that I think I would have not finished "The Rhine" . I give "The Rhine" 2 stars, taking Goodreads definition of that rating literally; "It was ok".

[Raluca · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Rhine" does what it says on the cover: follow Coates as he sails, bikes and walks upstream Europe's second largest river, stopping in all the places you'd expect and a few others besides, writing a largely good natured account of the cultures and pieces of history he "meets" along the way. While decently well-researched and mildly funny, the volume won't captivate historians and won't have you in stitches. It's an easy to read travelogue-slash-trivia-compendium, and would probably make a good gift to someone just moving somewhere along the Rhine.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This delightful and entertaining book, part history and part travelogue, was written by a British transplant to the Netherlands who decided to follow the Rhine River along its 800 [ish] mile-route from its mouth on the North Sea coast at Hoeck van Holland to its source in the Alps. Along the way, Coates imparts interesting bits of history and local anecdotes, and shares his “contributions to the economies of cities along the route” by eating and savoring local delicacies. I laughed out loud throughout his guide to the Rhineland region.

As Coates points out, some 50 million people live in the Rhine watershed. It has served as a key artery of Europe’s trade system since the time of the Roman Empire.

The Rhine and the Danube formed most of the northern inland frontier of the Roman Empire. Coates tells us that the Limes Germanicus (Latin for Germanic frontier) was a line of frontier (limes) fortifications that bounded ancient Roman provinces and divided the Roman Empire and the unsubdued Germanic tribes from the years 83 to about 260 AD. At its zenith, the limes stretched from the North Sea outlet of the Rhine to near Regensburg at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers.

Much of Coates’ insights on Roman times comes from his use of The Germania by Tacitus (c. 56 - c. 120 AD), the great Roman historian, as a source. Written around 98 AD, The Germania was a historical and ethnographic work on the Germanic tribes outside the Roman Empire. [You can read an English translation online, here.]

Beginning in the 1800s, the Rhine took on cultural and political significance with the growth of German nationalism. The Rhine was adopted as the symbol of German purity, strength, and unity. In this way it inspired some of history’s most famous writers, poets, artists, diplomats and statesmen. In particular, Coates observes, “the movement known as Romanticism took the Rhine as one of its major recurring themes.”

Of course, the notions associated with Romanticism and the Rhine, such as "purification" and a mythical quality corresponding to "ethnic group" attributed to the German "Volk," had some deleterious consequences as well, to put it mildly.

Thus does Coates expound on one of his themes, which is exposing how the Rhine shaped - and continues to shape - the countries it flows through, and the people who live there.

To that end, as indicated above, he not only shares history, but scores of fascinating anecdotal stories related to the Rhine, from the development of Baedeker’s guide books for rich young travelers making “Grand Tours” down the Rhine, to the fact that Dutch women along the river were employed at one time by herring companies to lick the eyeballs of “any colleagues who were unfortunate enough to get fish scales lodged there.”

Some of the other things I learned about in this book include:


When Bonn served as the capital of Germany (1949 - 1990), the defense ministry built on the banks of the Rhine became known as the “Pentabonn.”

John le Carré worked and wrote in Bonn for a while. His description of of the city “helped establish many of the tropes of the modern espionage thriller: gloomy bridges and thick river mists, lamp-lit cobbled streets and morally dubious heroes.”

The national anthem of France, "La Marseillaise," was written in 1792 by a Rhinelander after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin" ("War Song for the Rhine Army").

In the early 1800s, there was a shortage of horses (for reasons ranging from the Napoleanic wars, to lack of food because of disruption of global weather after the explosion of the Indonesian volcano Tambora). People still wanted to get around, however, and it was an inventor from Mannheim along the Rhine who, in the summer of 1817, came up with a new invention to replace the horse: a bicycle. Later in the same area, Karl Benz (with significant but rarely acknowledged assistance from his wife Bertha) came up with the world’s first car.

Rhinestones actually began from the use of sparkly stones near the Rhine in Alsace. While the riverside rock collection business died out, the production of fake crystals soared worldwide, and became “beloved of low-key dressers like Elvis and Dolly Parton.” Coates writes: “The Rhine link was lost, but the original name of the shiny river stones stuck: rhinestones.”



Airships were another Rhine invention. Count Zeppelin was born in Konstanz along the Rhine and spent a great deal of time “tinkering with flying technology on, next to and over the waters” of Lake Constance (a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps). Of most interest, however, was the fact that each dirigible made by Zeppelin was constructed with the intestines of 250,000 cows. In fact, the U.K. Independent reports that during the First World War:

“Cow intestines used to make sausage skins were such a vital component in the construction of Zeppelin airships that the Kaiser’s military chiefs were prepared to sacrifice bratwurst and other types of sausage in the pursuit of victory.

Rather than permitting the intestines to be eaten, they were used to create special bags to hold the hydrogen gas used to keep Zeppelins aloft.”

Well, who knew?

And indeed, while reading, voicing that expression was my most common reaction besides laughing.

It is also worth noting that although the book is literally studded with metaphors, they are almost all well-done - both entertaining and evocative:

“The riverbanks were so thickly forested that they looked as if they could have been knitted from bright green wool.”

“. . . . a cluster of thick chimneys smoked like cigars thrust upright on the riverbank.”

“. . . walls of shipping containers [were] stacked like cereal boxes in the supermarket.”

“High-rise towers stretched away from the water like a bar graph.”

“At sunset, the old quarter [in Strasbourg] was . . . spectacularly lit, the ancient townhouses reflected in the river like dolls’ houses on a mirror.”

And then there are his descriptions, also entertaining and evocative:

Gentrification in Rotterdam: “areas where it had once been impossible to buy a croissant were now seething with kale and quinoa.”

Rhine cruise ships are “essentially mobile retirement homes.”

Evaluation: The Rhine is a quirky book that could hardly be classified as serious history, although it contains a lot of factual information on an important topic, i.e., the culture of Germany. Perhaps “travelogue with historical and sociological background” might be a more apt description. The writing is sprightly and entertaining, and the book presents an often delightful and decidedly unique guide to the region.

Heartily recommended both for those planning to travel abroad, and those who just enjoy learning about food and customs around the world. (Most humorously, the author frequently reports buying gifts of local delicacies for his wife and friends, and then eating them himself instead, practically before he leaves the stores, as he ���rolls on” to the next place.)

[Niklas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took quite some time to finish. Interesting and good read, although the author's humour could have been a bit more subtle at times.

I'd also have wished for a more thorough editing process, especially when checking foreign proper names.

[Nicole Geub · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haters gonna hate, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Lots of tidbits of information and I think that it was told in way that's very relatable to tourists traveling abroad. I'd wish that I read this before my vacation with Amsterdam on the plan but alas I didn't get to it.

[Kiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fascinating book tracing the history, geography and people of the Rhine. It's made me want to get a Eurostar to Amsterdam with my bike and make my own journey down it too!

[Kevin Norton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally finished this loaned book - fun sojourn along the Rhine. Well-written and interesting, just my kind of travel-writing. Food for thought for future family cycle trips…

[Kenneth Houghton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Humorous and Insightful

I read this book while traveling the Rhine on a riverboat cruise. I found it both humorous and insightful as Bob Coates is irreverent but observant. It is definitely not your dry travelogue. Example: The high prices in Switzerland were like "shopping in a hotel mini-bar." A great blend of geography, history, and current events.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many of my ancestors lived along two major European rivers, the Rhine and the Danube. I really enjoyed this trip down the Rhine which pinpointed it’s importance - both now and in the past. And Coates is very amusing to read as well, so that keeps it light. Enjoyable.

[Bryan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although the author does provide some interesting historical information, it is completely diluted by his liberal commentary. The book is more of a political opinion piece. He loves to stereotype conservatives every chance he gets.

[Andrew Canfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Rhine: Following Europe's Greatest River from Amsterdam to the Alps is a so-so piece of travelogue writing. The book's sections give readers an idea of the cultural flavors of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein in a format which makes for an a breezy read.

British journalist and author Ben Coates followed the Rhine River-oftentimes flitting alongside it on daily runs-and he lets readers in on (some) history regarding the countries it touches in addition to some of his own musings.

The decisions he made regarding which parts of the nations' histories to delve into were frequently puzzling. For example, the section on the Netherlands will include a bit on everything from William of Orange to modern day political infighting with the far right Party for Freedom. The France portion will talk about Rhine-touching Strasbourg and provide a bit of analysis on why the river was more strategically important in the second world war than the first. History dating back to the time of the Romans, although important to the Rhine region, seems to be given short shrift early on.

There just always seems to be a lacuna in the storytelling, which makes sense given Coates did not want the book to be a bloated nonfiction work but instead more of a breezy travelogue.

So perhaps it is a bit too judgmental to deduct stars due to the seemingly abridged and arbitrary way in which much of the histories of the Netherlands, Germany, France, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein are written. There is a good bit of commentary on geography, as the flat nature of the Netherlands and the forested beauty of Germany come through well. (Wealthy Liechtenstein comes across sounding like even more of a tax haven than Switzerland.)

The cultural differences when it comes to everything from social interactions to views toward debt and money to cuisine in the countries along the Rhine are also communicated well. There is also come commentary on what, by 2018, had become a migrant crisis in European countries.

But overall The Rhine: Following Europe's Greatest River form Amsterdam to the Alps was a letdown. It never really ties together, with a bunch of observations made about a number of different nations at random that never seem to congeal into a whole.

The book is not awful, and it will provide a quick brush-up on the Rhine River-touching regions. Perhaps a traveler about to take a Rhine cruise or visit the area might benefit from it, but collectively the travelogue's various sections really do not form a book which packs any sort of memorable punch.

-Andrew Canfield Denver, Colorado

[Mark Farley · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book. It’s surprising and refreshing that people are still finding fun and weird ways to approach the travel writing genre and this is a perfect example of that.

There was a huge interest here for me to read this book, as there should be for many others. It’s packed full of fabulous and twisted facts and in particular, many fascinations about Germany and its regions, not to mention its troubled history. Like how the Berlin Wall fell, quite by accident and at the hands of a badly typed PR announcement or how on its banks a female joyrider discovered the bicycle or y’know, explosives. Not to mention all the glorious information about the many places that hug one of the world’s most important rivers.

There’s a Bryson-esque feeling that made me desire for Bill to update his European travels book reading this, like he did with ‘Little Dribbling’, and there is a humour and wit that Coates has that is very similar. THE RHINE feels essentially like two concurrent books though, one a historical lesson and the other a modern travel writing sojourn.

This book was published a couple of years ago, so it does have a somewhat Brexit theme running through it. For those not keeping track… Essentially, Brexit was triggered by posh people who painted lies on the side of a bus and was decided by people who (in the vast majority) only have the experience of Europe that exclusively boils down to mashed up weekends in Benidorm and Ibiza and have never experienced the wonderful places that this continent derives, a few of which are included here.

This was a great read that was thoroughly enjoyed at a time when one feels so far apart from countries (plural) I have spent most of my life feeling akin with, but now no more. Highly recommended.

[Brandon D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ben Coates’ “The Rhine” is an absolutely fantastic book that was easy to read and difficult to put down. As he journeys along the river that seemingly lays at the heart of Europe, Coates not only takes you back in time, but also crosses today’s geopolitical boundaries and had me rolling on the floor laughing all in the same chapter. Biking, hiking, running, swimming, traveling by train or by boat, he has me convinced

His story telling is gripping and fun, never bogging down too deep in the details to become another boring history book. His words paint vivid pictures from the charming river towns and their quirky town folk to the monstrous port at Rotterdam or the Landschaftpark at Duisburg. Further down (or up) river in Strasbourg, Coats gives fascinating historical details from the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1 and WWI and WWII that really gives you food for thought considering today’s geopolitical climate between neighboring EU nations.

This book has a little bit of everything. It touches on culture, cuisine, wine and bier, history, politics and a couple of really humorous passages. Chapter by chapter, Coates takes you from the Netherlands, to Germany, to a quick stop in France’s Alsace before finishing up in Switzerland and Austria, after tripping into Lichtenstein! During my journey through the pages, I found myself making notes for my own future travels!

Easily the best book I’ve read in a long while! Full of smiles, laughs, historical events and gee whiz facts, I loved every page!!

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the author's descriptions of tourism and life in present-day Rhine cities, their rich histories, and the issues they face in the 21st century. The author successfully showed in what ways the Rhine has shaped all these locations.

The author's personal reflections were hit-or-miss and didn't add much to the narrative. Some parts were funny, but others came across as more immature than amusing (e.g. dumping snack crisps into the shoes of someone else staying at the hostel who was annoying him). His interactions with locals mostly are presented for jokes and don't really offer much insight into the place or people, more often just casting them into some of the usual stereotypes. And he makes frequent jabs at selected politicians for comedic effect, which I found offputting despite not being the biggest fan myself of some of the politicians he was mocking.

These political cheap shots contrasted with other more impersonal sections in which I thought he usually more respectfully laid out political and cultural challenges, both modern and historical, that the people living in these regions face, as well as some reasons for being optimistic about their futures. Sure, he's not a historian or a political scientist, but I still enjoyed the information and ideas he cobbled together for this book.

A mixed bag overall, but I enjoyed it a lot for what it was.

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Een reisverslag stroomopwaarts langs de Rijn, de reisindrukken van een in Nederland woonachtige Brit. Na enkele locaties in de Nederlandse delta, via Duitsland, Frankrijk, Zwitserland, Oostenrijk en Liechtenstein reist de auteur naar de bron van de Rijn in Zwitserland.

Leuk van opzet: de plaatsen en steden die Coates bezoekt zijn aanleiding voor topografische, historische en politieke observaties.

Een boek als dit is onvermijdelijk subjectief van aard, het zijn de indrukken van de schrijver, hij maakt de keuzes voor wat hij behandelt en wat niet. Als in Nederland woonachtige Brit kent Coates Nederland het best, hoewel hij een lelijke uitglijder maakt als hij de IJssel ziet als rivier die naar de Rijn toe stroomt in plaats van ervan af. Maar het is ook de charme; hij is in al deze landen een vreemdeling en kan er dus met de verwondering van een buitenstaander over schrijven.

Wat ik overhoud aan het boek is, dat het interessant is om het stroomgebied als geheel te zien, als cultuurgebied. Een gebied dat scheidt (Frankrijk en Duitsland, het Romeinse Rijk en de Germanen) en verbindt (economische slagader van Europa, infrastructuur door landen heen). Zo leer je toch weer iets nieuws over een nabije regio, waar je niet te vaak over nadenkt.

[Mary Warnement · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ben Coates decides to walk, bike, run, swim, train, and boat the length of the Rhine from its mouth to its source. I enjoyed his travelogue. His slight errors in talking about Erasmus (a scholar, not specifically a philosopher) made me aware not to accept all he wrote without following up. He's intelligent but no historian. And no claims to be. His experience is with modern politics and works in that world. His epilogue, written in dear-to-my heart Berlin, seemed sloppy. He was trying to achieve a thesis defining "Rhine culture" but his generalities did not sway me, and he was aware he was generalizing. His explanations of the political state of Europe was most extensive in the epilogue and did not match the tone or focus of the rest of the book. He mentioned the political situation in the places he visited but only very generally and often only through random samples of graffiti and campaign posters. That said, I enjoyed his humor and marvel at his willingness to swim naked in public.

[Stanley Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in preparation for a Rhine cruise that my wife and I plan to take in spring 2024. Since I don’t have a lot of background information about this region (other than some general knowledge from reading about the history of Christianity and the Reformation in Europe), I found this to be both informative and easy to read.

Bruce tells the story of his trip south from the mouth of the Rhine to its source, describing the kinds of things one would expect to hear from a tourist - what he did, what he ate, and what he saw, along with some history of the region and some political commentary along the way (this was written as Brexit was occurring and populism was on the rise both in the US and abroad).

I recommend it as a great first book for anyone wanting to learn more about the Rhine region, as that is what this book has been for me. Much more fun than a simple Wikipedia article.

Why not five stars? Well, a few more maps would have been helpful - in particular, one for each chapter to highlight the specific region of the Rhine that he writes about.

[Kaesa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was fine, but I found a lot of the little joking asides pretty annoying, especially in the middle of talking about stuff like lasting resentment about the Nazis, or the present-day rise of the far right. I get that it was humorous understatement, but I'm just so tired of encountering genuine understatement that it all kind of gets on my nerves even if I know the author is on my side here. Anyway, the book spends a lot of time on political history that I found interesting, but I had picked the book up more for travel/cultural stuff and neither part really work for me. There's interesting stuff, but mostly it just made me yearn for the good old days of 2019, when, sure, the world was a dumpster fire to some extent, but at least I got to travel. Sometimes I used to see hills, you guys. It was amazing. Really made me believe in hills.

Anyway, I think I'm probably just the wrong audience for this guy. Sorry, guy. Hope you get to see hills again too.