Recollections of Forty Years 2 Volume Set

by Ferdinand de Lesseps, C.B. Pitman (Translator)

The French diplomat and engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps (1805 1894) was instrumental in the successful completion of the Suez Canal, which reduced by 3000 miles the distance by sea between Bombay and London. This two-volume memoir, written towards the end of his life and dedicated to his children, was published in this English translation in 1887. In it, de Lesseps describes his experiences in Europe and North Africa, beginning with accounts of diplomatic missions to Rome and Madrid during the political unrest of the late 1840s, and continuing with substantial coverage of the Suez project. He also includes reflections on European and colonial history and politics, an essay on steam power, and a report on the 1879 Paris conference that led to a controversial and abortive early attempt by a French company to build the Panama Canal."

661 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2010

About the author

French diplomat and engineer Ferdinand Marie, vicomte de Lesseps supervised the construction of the Suez Canal from 1859 to 1869 and directed the company that began the Panama Canal in 1882 but because of bankruptcy in 1888 abandoned the project.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdina...