"Frances Dunwell carves out a new approach to the crowded field of Hudson River texts by inviting readers to explore the connection between actions and attitudes, values and policies, and vision and innovation. The result is a book that looks at both the unintended consequences and the remarkable transformations of an iconic river." -- Roger Panetta, Fordham University "Frances F. Dunwell weaves the history of this important river and its valley into the larger thread of American development in the seventeenth through twentieth centuries. This is a prodigious work that draws on several academic disciplines and reveals a rich level of research. Although much has been written about the subject over the years, Dunwell's work is original and makes the compelling case the majestic Hudson is not only a tremendous natural force, but also a powerful engine of social and cultural change." -- Thomas S. Wermuth, Hudson River Valley Institute, Marist College " The Hudson is an extraordinary book, rich in the ecology, history, and enterprise of the Hudson River and its surrounding lands. Frances F. Dunwell eloquently elucidates the deeply interwoven interdependence of human and natural ecologies. Only if we learn to see our bioregions as Dunwell sees the Hudson, will we be able to save them." -- Jonathan Rose, founder of the Garrison Institute "The waterway that keeps his name alive was a big disappointment to Henry Hudson, who was looking for a shortcut to the Orient. It became the gateway to a vast continent and through it came the people, the commerce, and the ideas that formed America. One of the most powerful of these ideas is that man could live within and alongside nature without destroying it. Frances F. Dunwell's affectionate portrait of the river and the heroic story of its reclamation is cause for celebration and confidence that there's much more history to come." -- Kent Barwick, president of the Municipal Art Society and director of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance "I have long admired the results achieved by Frances F. Dunwell, especially those focused on our mutual devotion to the Hudson River. All of that admiration and gratitude has now escalated once again, and amazingly so, with the completion of her wonderful book, The Hudson: America's River. Anyone interested in the ecological, cultural, political, and social evolution of America should read this book." -- Maurice D. Hinchey, Member of Congress, and author of Hudson Valley Greenway and the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area Legislation "This marvelous book not only has the up-to-date news of the Hudson clean-up campaign, but has details I never knew, of Hudson history through the centuries, the millennia. Most important, it tells us what the Hudson's future will be, depending on what we citizens do." -- Pete Seeger

Frances F. Dunwell presents a rich portrait of the Hudson and of the visionary people whose deep relationship with the river inspires changes in American history and culture. Lavishly illustrated with color plates of Hudson River School paintings, period engravings, and glass plate photography, The Hudson captures the spirit of the river through the eyes of its many admirers. It shows the crucial role of the Hudson in the shaping of Manhattan, the rise of the Empire State, and the trajectory of world trade and global politics, as well as the river's influence on art and architecture, engineering, and conservation.