'The Great River' explores the history and future of the Mississippi River

Author Boyce Upholt talks to Here & Now's Peter O'Dowd about his new book "The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi." It tells the story of the river, the Indigenous people who lived alongside it, the white settlers who came along to claim it, the feats of engineering that sought to tame, contain, and control it, and restoration efforts that could return the river and its wetlands to a more natural state.

By Boyce Upholt

Adapted from "The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi" by Boyce Upholt. Copyright © 2024 by Boyce Upholt. Used with permission of the publisher, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. All rights reserved.