For years, I’ve been visiting the places along the Mississippi and writing guidebooks about the history and culture of the towns and people. Now I’ve got something new to add to the list: a guide to the natural history of the river itself. In my new book, The Wild Mississippi: A State-by-State Guide to
In The Log of the Easy Way, John Mathews wrote about a honeymoon trip he and his wife took in 1900. No, they didn’t relax at an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica; they traveled a couple thousand miles down the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers in a homemade shantyboat. Their book is just one of many
The Mississippi River has a long and complicated history. If you are like me and enjoy reading about different aspects of the river's history, you might wonder which books you should read to get the full picture. I'm here to help. In ten years, I've read a lot of books. I have suffered through
My personal library has about 250 books that are directly about the Mississippi River and the communities along its banks. I’ve read most of them, even though my to-read list seems to get longer every year. This year, for a change, I read more books than I bought, so my pile of unread books
New book explores the diversity of the Headwaters
Lake Pepin from Maiden Rock Bluff A quick roundup of news about Mississippi River projects: This feels like it has been a big year for the Mississippi, given the number of major books released and the interest in big projects about the river. If you haven't seen them, yet, you should check out
