A captivating journey along the iconic River Po and through Italian history, society and culture. ''Delightful... A wonderful cornucopia of history'' TLS''Uncovers the Po''s fascinating history'' GuardianThe Po is the longest river in Italy, travelling for 652 kilometres from one end of the country to the other. It rises by the French border in the Alps and meanders the width of the entire peninsula to the Adriatic Sea in the east. Flowing next to many of Italy''s most exquisite cities - Ferrara, Mantova, Parma, Cremona, Pavia and Torino - the river is a part of the national psyche, as iconic to Italy as the Thames is to England or the Mississippi to the USA.For millennia, the Po was a vital trading route and a valuable source of tax revenue, fiercely fought over by rival powers. It was also a moat protecting Italy from invaders from the north, from Hannibal to Holy Roman Emperors. But as humans radically altered the river''s hydrology, those floodplains bec
