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237th out of 348 books
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Wedding of the Waters: The Erie Canal and the Making of a Great Nation
The building of the Erie Canal, like the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Panama Canal, is one of the greatest and most riveting stories of American ingenuity. Best-selling author Peter Bernstein presents the story of the canal's construction against the larger tableau of America in the first quarter-century of the 1800s. Examining the social, political, and eco...more
Paperback, 448 pages
Published
February 13th 2006
by W. W. Norton & Company
(first published 2005)
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Peter Bernstein's Wedding of the Waters is an excellent history of the Erie Canal, a great technological development in the early 1800s. This canal led to the development of some of New York's most robust cities, such as Rochester, Syracuse, and Buffalo. Each had been small and undistinguished before the opening of the canal; each flourished afterward. The canal stretched over 360 miles from Albany to Buffalo, with another 150 miles from Albany to the ports of New York City.
The book...more
The book...more
Wedding of the Waters refers to the celebration starting on October 26 and ending on November 4, 1824 commemorating the completion of the Erie Canal. Celebrations began at Buffalo on Lake Erie, the western end of the canal, and ended at Sandy Hook in New York Harbor. There, De Wit Clinton symbolically poured water from Lake Erie into the Atlantic Ocean.
Bernstein, an economic historian, divides the book into five parts the Visionaries, the Action Begins, the Creation, the Stu...more
Critics applauded Bernstein's work for its wide scope, thorough approach, and readability. His economic insight is exemplary (the author is an economic consultant and writer), and the book's narrative vitality is appealing. However, as absorbing and vibrant as many critics found the book, it had its share of detractors. Reviewers commonly cited the lack of sufficient illustrations and maps to help readers "visualize the physical challenges of building the canal, as well as explain how it ac
...more
Peter Bernstein's name on a book is enough to motivate me to buy a book. I have enjoyed his historical writings. This one certainly make me wonder what the North America political structure would have been if the Erie Canal had not been built - would the Canadian border have been drawn further south of wat it is today? The competing location for a canal, in the Wahingon area toward the Ohio river, was also an interesting twist. The technologies and engineering to include the locks needed to ...more
I initially bought this book as a source for a research paper I was writing, but ended up enjoying it so much that I decided to read the whole thing rather than skim it. Bernstein describes the planning, creation, and completion of the canal with such intricate detail that it seems fascinating. He goes from the people with vague plans and ideas about building it to the main players in its development and somehow it all ties together. This book definitely interested me on a subject I didn't even ...more
If you like Business History, read a Peter L. Bernstein book. He's great. I liked this one a lot, but would recommend Against The Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk first. He worked on Wall St for about 50 years, then wrote books and died in 2009.
This was my first Kindle book too. I don't know how to share a link to my hightlights but perhaps this is my page: https://kindle.amazon.com/profile/Lloyd-...
I added 154 highlights and 19 notes to my e-book version, my favorite...more
This was my first Kindle book too. I don't know how to share a link to my hightlights but perhaps this is my page: https://kindle.amazon.com/profile/Lloyd-...
I added 154 highlights and 19 notes to my e-book version, my favorite...more
I could not get interested in this book, despite my interest in canals. Perhaps this is because the author wrote from the perspective of an economist, and the protagonists of the book were all politicians and economists. My interests lie in the technical and engineering achievements of canals. Some would argue that canal technology itself is fairly mundane, and that the "action" in a large canal project is on the financial side (how does the money get raised to build it, what is the re...more
The Erie Canal is far from the center of national consciousness these days, but in its time, it was a wonder to boggle the imagination, and one of the early icons of American inginuity. Naturally, such an immense project was not without controversy- particularly over how to fund it- and Bernstein covers all of that. If you live in Upstate New York, are interested in the early years of our nation's history, or if you are impressed by great stories of engineering and mankind conquering his environ...more
this is the first of the economic histories I ever read. It started my love of a new subset of books. The Erie Canal was an enormous undertaking and a had a huge impact on the settling of the middle United States. I think about this book often.
When I was growing up in Buffalo, I heard about the Erie Canal but never saw it, and until I read this book, never imagined all the difficulties that preceded its construction as well as all the construction difficulties.
The subject was very interesting to me, but the narrative is bloated and repetitive and the cheerleading tone makes it hard to take seriously. But that's just the genre of popular history.
Enjoyable book about the conception, building, & economic consequences of this early 19th century public work. More on the conception, politics, and economics than on the engineering
Detailed, but fast moving and rather intriguing account of NY State's development via the canal almost from the time of the victory over England.
Good story. Would have like more of the actual building of the canal and a bit less of the politics but otherwise a fun read.
Interesting history of the development of the Erie Canal and its aftermath. I would particularly recommend this book to folks (like myself) from the regions serviced by the canal (upstate New York and the Great Lakes region), because it helps to make sense of how the area developed. The political and financial squabbles described in this book rival anything happening currently, so it might also make you feel better about the current state of our democracy. The writing style is a little slow, ...more
Erie Canal and life
I was excited to read this book because of the topic. I was disappointed in both the quality of writing and the lack of detail in the building process. I felt like the author spent most of the book detailing the bureaucratic process leading up to the building. When it actually came time for the building of the canal, I felt like he glossed over the story of the men who built it. I had hoped to hear more about the engineering and construction and less about the details on the legislative batt...more
Did you know that George Washington believed that absent a canal system between the East Coast and the territory to the West of the Appalachian's, they would likely have become two distinct nations? I didn't either. Washington believed it (and its business prospects) strongly enough that he personally invested in a doomed canal venture in the Middle Atlantic region.
This was a good read and more than the story of an engineering, financial, and political challenge.
This was a good read and more than the story of an engineering, financial, and political challenge.
Just finished this book. It seems I'm having a bad run with books about canals, they seem to be way too interested in discussing financial aspects of the canal, both the building and in use, and gloss over any interesting stories of the construction. I should have been forewarned, the author's previous books have all had an economics theme to them, so it's hardly a surprise. So I can recommend this book only to those who revel in such things.
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Book about the creation of the Erie Canal with a decidedly economic perspective. It was an interesting read, but I wanted a lot more information about the politics, engineering, and labor involved in building the canal rather than tangents about early American economic policy and the repeal of the Corn Laws. I'd only recommend to people really interested in 19th century WNY history.
Weirdly, the book does not really delve into the thesis suggested by its title. There is a cogent argument about the vision it took to create the Canal, a great cast of historical characters, and some memorable details. Still, I know there's much more richness to this chapter of history, and so I shall keep looking for a better Canal book...
really really capitalist. a good encapsulation of the typical "history-book history" version of the erie canal. also a great eye for fun detail, and lots of local history. but also a bit hard to stomach at times. progress is not necessarily progress!
An interesting book. It wasn't at all what I expected: It was less a history of the canal than a history of the financing/lobbying for a canal.
This is the start of the industrial development of america... nuff said. entertaining writing about a fairly obtuse subject.
Impossible task - remarkable to imagine a similar project in this political climate
if only they knew the train was coming.
Ditch Diggers
Mary
marked it as to-read
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Founder and President of Peter L. Bernstein, Inc., which he established in 1973 as economic consultants to institutional investors and corporations around the world.
In 1951, after teaching economics at Williams College and a five-year stint in commercial banking, Peter became Chief Executive of a nationally–known investment counsel firm, where he personally managed billions of dollars ...more
More about Peter L. Bernstein...
In 1951, after teaching economics at Williams College and a five-year stint in commercial banking, Peter became Chief Executive of a nationally–known investment counsel firm, where he personally managed billions of dollars ...more
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