Adlard Coles Nautical,1997, N4, 239pp, £12.99
When I reviewed the Cooper's previous book "Watersteps through France", I was very enthusiastic and the sequel I find equally as good. It describes their voyage in their 60-ton barge from Northern France, down the Rhine and then through the Rhein-Mair-Donau Kanal to the Danube and down to the Black Sea, often in times of flood. What stands out most of all is the difficulties confonting them with the bureaucracy of Eastern Europe and the great patience they had in dealing with it, leave alone the threat of fighting in Yugoslavia.
The style of writing - you are never quite sure which of them is writing each paragraph - I find quite absorbing. My hope is that they will soon travel some other waterways and produce another delightful book and I am asked to review it. NCT
rmg