An ode to a Pennsylvania icon: the Brandywine. 

Winding through a rolling, agricultural plane from Southeastern Pennsylvania to Delaware, the Brandywine River has long been one of America’s most important small rivers since the war of independence. 

Henry Seidel Canby was born along its banks into a family that has lived in the region for generations. His personal affection for the river is woven into this charming history of events that make the Brandywine such an essential part of American history.

He explains how the Swedes built the first log cabins in America at the mouth of the Brandywine, why William Penn’s Quakers later came here, that prairie schooners were built to haul grain to local flour mills, and how the duPont family (of Longwood Gardens fame) started a chemical empire in these narrow gorges. This insightful book features 22 line illustrations by Andrew Wyeth, in a charming and profoundly interesting look at one of America's most beloved natural resources. 

285 pages. Softcover.