List Books During The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914
| Original Title: | The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914 |
| ISBN: | 0743262131 (ISBN13: 9780743262132) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | Panama |
| Literary Awards: | National Book Award for History (1978), Francis Parkman Prize (1978), National Book Critics Circle Award Nominee for General Nonfiction (1977), Cornelius Ryan Award (1977) |
David McCullough
Hardcover | Pages: 697 pages Rating: 4.2 | 16003 Users | 1379 Reviews
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| Title | : | The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914 |
| Author | : | David McCullough |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 697 pages |
| Published | : | June 1st 2004 by Simon Schuster (first published June 1st 1977) |
| Categories | : | History. Nonfiction. North American Hi.... American History. Historical. World History. Audiobook. Travel |
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On December 31, 1999, after nearly a century of rule, the United States officially ceded ownership of the Panama Canal to the nation of Panama. That nation did not exist when, in the mid-19th century, Europeans first began to explore the possibilities of creating a link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the narrow but mountainous isthmus; Panama was then a remote and overlooked part of Colombia. All that changed, writes David McCullough in his magisterial history of the Canal, in 1848, when prospectors struck gold in California. A wave of fortune seekers descended on Panama from Europe and the eastern United States, seeking quick passage on California-bound ships in the Pacific, and the Panama Railroad, built to serve that traffic, was soon the highest-priced stock listed on the New York Exchange. To build a 51-mile-long ship canal to replace that railroad seemed an easy matter to some investors. But, as McCullough notes, the construction project came to involve the efforts of thousands of workers from many nations over four decades; eventually those workers, laboring in oppressive heat in a vast malarial swamp, removed enough soil and rock to build a pyramid a mile high. In the early years, they toiled under the direction of French entrepreneur Ferdinand de Lesseps, who went bankrupt while pursuing his dream of extending France's empire in the Americas. The United States then entered the picture, with President Theodore Roosevelt orchestrating the purchase of the canal—but not before helping foment a revolution that removed Panama from Colombian rule and placed it squarely in the American camp.Rating Appertaining To Books The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914
Ratings: 4.2 From 16003 Users | 1379 ReviewsPiece Appertaining To Books The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914
McCullough book about the Panama Canal shows the hubris of De Lesspes who was the brilliant builder of the Suez Canal through sand but failed miserably in Panama as he had never even been to Panama and thought you could build a canal in a jungle.The hardships endured by the people who did finally build the can were unbelievable with malaria, rock slides and oppressive heat.I have very mixed feelings about this book. I'm a huge fan of McCullough, and I'm a little worried that my mixed feelings come from not being in a proper mental state to read something this heavy, and also I listened to most of this with a really horrible narrator. Ok, whats good about it. This may sound ridiculous, but I never gave it much thought. This was a huge undertaking and an engineering marvel. I always thought it was all Roosevelt's impetus to develop this project, but it's interesting
In 1963, when I was only 17, I visited Central America as part of an air cadet exchange program. This was my first major trip outside of the United States. Although most of my time was spent in El Salvador, I did spend time in both Costa Rica and Panama and had the opportunity to tour the Panama canal. Of course at that age the months I spent in Central America including Panama made a major impression. What an experience for a 17 year old from Boise, Idaho! After all these years, this was the
1. How well written is it?I listened to this book on Audible.All of David McCullough's books are well written and easily digestible. That being said, you can tell that this is an older book. Some of the transitions were not as smooth as his other books and I felt that there were sections that he would have condensed if it were written today.2. How interesting is the subject?The Panama Canal is one of those subjects that is kind of esoteric. It is something that is out there, probably has an
I read this out loud to Dan. I really didn't think we'd finish before we left for Panama, but we did it! And this book is loooong. I really enjoyed it though. This is the first McCullough book I've read and I'm incredibly impressed with the amount of research he puts into his writing and loved all the details. It made seeing the Canal so much more impressive. I only wish McCullough would have gone into a little more depth with the actual engineering of the canal, but the politics behind the
I wasn't sure whether to award 4 or 5 stars to this book until I realized that my withholding a star had more to do with me than the book. In his typically lucid prose, McCullough wrote a complete history of the building of the Canal. The research was impeccable; the book deserves all the accolades it received. From the disastrous French attempt at building it to the American struggles and finally success, the reader is given the full story. The egos involved always meant that there would be
Ideas too have their period of extrinsic incubation, and particularly if they run contrary to what has always seemed common sense.Fact is almost always more interesting than fiction, and history is full of a lot of interesting facts. David McCullough has proved this time and time again in his books. The Path Between the Seas is one of his best examples. The history of the building of the Panama Canal is one I knew nothing about and it is one hugely fascinating story. The 44 year span between the
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