THE HUDSON

At the start I felt this was not so interesting as some of the other titles in RIVERS OF AMERICA. Perhaps this was because the historical background of the Hudson is more or less familiar territory. But as I got into it, I found that Carmer has the faculty of breathing the breath of life into dead bones, and that the history of a river can be made to epitomize much of a nation's story. He has the faculty, too, of making his story personal and human, of collecting odd bits of quaint information, of giving color and drama to his story. He debunks some of the old legends, but adds new, equally glamorous; he divides his material into chronological history, into special subjects (whaling, shipping, architecture, the arts, etc.). And the book emerges as another star on the roster of a series of growing importance.