Arthur G. Adams has nurtured a lifelong interest in the Hudson River and its surrounding region. He has spent much of his life exploring its highways, byways, waterways, and foot trails from the Atlantic Coastal inlets to the Catskill and Berkshire Mountain Peaks.

The Hudson Through the Years chronicles the history of the Hudson River region of New York State through five centuries, from its early inhabitants: its main Native American tribes and early Dutch and English settlers, through its current day residents. Tracing the history of the region from the American Revolution to the present, Adams incorporates the spread of industrialism, infrastructure, and trasnportation with tales of the early steamboats, ferries, horseboats, the Erie, Champlain, Iron and Anthracite canals, through the development of the trolleys, railroads, and automobiles. The book also includes details about the art and architecture of the region.

Included in the book are data about New York's governors, political administrations, U.S. presidents, and British sovereigns, ferry and train routes and schedules, maps and tables, and statistics for population growth over the last five centuries. Also included is a helpful selected bibliography.