The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914 | 
 enlarge | Author: David Mccullough
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Category: Book
List Price: $18.00
Buy Used: $2.05
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Avg. Customer Rating:  129 reviews
Sales Rank: 8845
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 704
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6 x 1.6
ISBN: 0671244094
Dewey Decimal Number: 972.87504
EAN: 9780671244095
ASIN: 0671244094
Publication Date: October 15, 1978
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Condition: Ex-Library. May have library markings or stickers. Otherwise, standard used condition.
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Amazon.com Review
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. The story of the Panama Canal is complex, full of heroes, villains, and victims. McCullough's long, richly detailed, and eminently literate book pays homage to an immense undertaking. --Gregory McNamee
Product Description
From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Truman, here is the national bestselling epic chronicle of the creation of the Panama Canal. In The Path Between the Seas, acclaimed historian David McCullough delivers a first-rate drama of the sweeping human undertaking that led to the creation of this grand enterprise.The Path Between the Seas tells the story of the men and women who fought against all odds to fulfill the 400-year-old dream of constructing an aquatic passageway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is a story of astonishing engineering feats, tremendous medical accomplishments, political power plays, heroic successes, and tragic failures. Applying his remarkable gift for writing lucid, lively exposition, McCullough weaves the many strands of the momentous event into a comprehensive and captivating tale. Winner of the National Book Award for history, the Francis Parkman Prize, the Samuel Eliot Morison Award, and the Cornelius Ryan Award (for the best book of the year on international affairs), The Path Between the Seas is a must-read for anyone interested in American history, the history of technology, international intrigue, and human drama.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 124 more reviews...
 A man, a plan, a canal . . . October 10, 2008
The epitome of what a general narrative history should be-informative, fun, inspiring.
McCullough begins by tracing the idea of an isthmian canal in history, continues with the two abortive French efforts to complete the canal, and finally covers the completion of the canal in its political and technical aspects under the leadership of the United States.
The technical aspects are fascinating for their details and bridging of a fifty year period of incredible engineering progress, the political aspects are interesting for their far-reaching impact (Central American hatred of the United States still lingers from the blatant grab of Panama from Columbia), but mostly the human story of the men, women, and larger-than-life lesser gods (de Lesseps, Buneau-Varilla, Roosevelt, Goethals) who made it happen is what remains most classic in this history..
Lighting a path thru history September 11, 2008
This Pulitzer-prize winning book tells of the creation of the Panama Canal, and in doing so, gives a great introduction to the American century. The book is written in third person, and follows the who, what, when, where and how of this great undertaking. The who includes engineers, politicians, business leaders, and common laborers who manned the machines that dug the canal. The what includes detailed descriptions of the work that went into making the canal, with a good recall of the businesses involved in this great undertaking, such as General Electric. The when is 1870 - August 1914, a period that straddles the turn of the century and the transition from Europe to America as the economic powerhouse of the world, a nation that could perform the greatest feat of construction and engineering then known to man. The where is not just Panama, but also the US and France, where political decisions were made that determined the location of the canal, and the type of canal it would become. The how is where this book excels. The author does a great job in examining the political processes in Congress and Roosevelt's administration that led to America taking over the construction. Names like Robert Woods (of Sears fame), John Knox, Gustav Eiffel (Eiffel Tower), and other celebrities of that time were linked in some way or another to the canal are all mentioned in this tome.
The book also comes with two sets of photographs. These include photos of the key individuals along with shots of the canal in various stages of completion. All in all, a great book for a great story.
A great story September 7, 2008
David McCullough provides a fascinating description of the trials and tribulations that led to the creation of the Panama Canal, covering the diverse characters, geography, science and politics in great story telling form.
McCullough's storytelling brings the Panama Canal Project to life August 31, 2008
Most people know the Panama Canal, but not as many know what went into it. McCullough take his vibrant story telling skills and uses them the chronicle the Panama Canal project from it's earliest French origins, through the disasterous failure of that first project, through the American version of the canal and it's completion.
With a rich detailing of the historical personages associated with the canal as well as the engineering and technical challenges involved, it is a masterful telling of the origins of one of the modern wonders of the world.
Highly recommended.
a master writer of history... August 21, 2008
David McCullough takes the incredible story behind the creation of the Panama Canal and weaves a fascinating look at what is essentially the biggest ditch digging story of all time. Not trying to belittle this amazing engineering accomplishment in the least bit just trying to reflect on a writer who can make such a story so fascinating. Granted, this is not an easy read, logging in at over 600 pages with every detail and political intrigue along the way but it sweeps the reader up in the telling of this story. McCullough captures the essence of the 'can-do' spirit of the times and the amazing talents of these people who created the path between the seas.
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