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The Land Divided: A History of the Panama Canal and Other Isthmian Canal Projects
History of Panama Canal from the Spanish Era, Battle of the Routes, The French Era, and the American Era.
650 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1974
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January 30, 2026
I'm not surprised that there are no other reviews for this book. I thought it was never going to end, it took me almost a month to finish.
I had bought a couple of newer books about the Panama Canal, which is one of modern history's great engineering feats, and one that has had enormous importance for this hemisphere and for American global hegemony.
I was attracted to this title, however, because it purports to explain all of the various isthmian projects. And boy does it. This must be just about exhaustive of every proposal or survey ever done. I had hoped to find some information about Spanish proposals, and specifically to see whether my supposition that Spain opposed any isthmian canal as contrary to her own security in the Pacific was correct.
I did not find much information to answer that question. But I found much more. The entire history of de Lesseps and his company's attempt to build a canal is recorded here, and I have to consider it the core of the book. There's a lot about financial wizardry I don't well understand, as well as the trials the company's leaders faced. Sadly, of course, de Lesseps failed and died with the canal incomplete.
The author seems to have been particularly interested in the financial schemes of shady characters like Reinach and Cornelius Herz. There is a lot of drama and intrigue here but I couldn't bring myself to care overly much. Mack says Herz was blackmailing Reinach, but nobody knows how or with what. But it seems to me to be of only academic interest.
But I was glad to learn about the Tehuantepec Railway, recently in the stages of revival and there's even talk by Mexico of building a limited canal there. I learned that the Spanish-American War spurred American interest in the canal, which I knew before but I did not know that the US entered into negotiations to buy the assets of the French company only a few weeks before the Treaty of Paris.
Interestingly, there is considerable information on Humboldt's proposals and ideas for a canal, which was not covered by Andrea Wulf in her biography of Humboldt. Goethe, too, seems to have foreseen the canal and lamented that he would not live to witness it.
The first part of the book seems somewhat incongruous and unnecessary, since it describes the voyages of Columbus and Bastidas exploring the isthmus, as well as Balboa's adventures, and then there is an extended section on the various piratical attacks on the isthmus by the English privateers and others.
But I'm not sure how relevant this all is. Surely Francis Drake and Henry Morgan were not dreaming of an isthmian canal? They do not appear to have been such visionaries, though the Scottish attempt to colonize Darien is perhaps more permissible because a canal seems to have been suggested.
One might equally wonder what the point of covering the story of isthmian travel during the California Gold Rush was, apart from highlighting the advantages of a canal. Yet, is it really relevant to talk about Walker's filibustering or the Watermelon Riots?
Another lesser-known but interesting proposal was for a canal through Colombia, based on a supposed canoe portage but it was obviously impractical upon examination.
The negotiations for a canal through Panama are extensively covered, as is the American involvement in separating Colombia and Panama, as one would expect. Seapower was instrumental in this, and curiously Mack condemns the American action as high-handed and unnecessary. A strange admission for a work originally published in the 1940s.
Mack divides the book into sections, with the bulk of it shared between the French and American eras. He describes how de Lesseps insisted on a sea level canal like at Suez, and why this doomed the French to failure.
Unfortunately the sea level canal, while technically feasible, was exorbitantly expensive, so the United States decided to finish the canal using locks after purchasing the French company and negotiating the deal with Panama.
The disputes between Britain and the US are covered here as well, and it's interesting to note that the British were opposed to an American canal which reinforces my position with Spain. The Panama Canal would greatly boost American trade with South America, a region that had been dominated by British 'informal imperialism' since the early nineteenth century. The canal was another nail in the coffin for British influence.
One episode that piqued my interest was the invitation to Louis Napoleon, it's unclear whether he was being invited to rule Colombia and/or Panama, or simply to lead the construction of a canal. Either way nothing came of it.
Other unrealistic proposals included a canal through Patagonia, which could only be suggested due to profound ignorance of the geography.
Much of the work is taken up in painstakingly listing every survey or expedition ever sent to the isthmus. Most of these were charlatans, men who make ridiculous claims about impossibly low elevations to scam investors into thinking a canal would be both easy and cheap. It was, of course, neither of those things.
The French and American sections have detailed analyses of the projects from the perspective of the workers and in regards to things like healthcare. One reason for American success compared to that of France must be the discovery that malaria and yellow fever are caused by mosquitoes, and the determined campaign by the US Army doctors to eliminate these pests. Panama was just one part of this, as the US effectively declared war on the mosquito all across the hemisphere, for example in Cuba too during the American occupation.
Goethals is the star of the show during the American era, but Mack makes it clear that he was ably supported by all of his subordinates, without whom the canal could not have been completed. He also briefly mentions the decision by Wilson to provide an indemnity to Colombia for taking Panama away, and how that segued into the Good Neighbor Policy of the Roosevelt Administration.
A strong theme in this work is the competition provided by the Nicaraguan Canal. Eventually all other potential competitors fell to the wayside as too impracticable or too expensive. But Nicaragua remained a serious challenger until the end. Even while the US was acquiring the French company there were proposals to construct a canal in Nicaragua instead.
Interestingly enough, even after the completion of the canal at Panama, there were still proposals being floated to build a parallel canal at Nicaragua. Mack admits that most of the arguments against the Nicaraguan Canal, such as that it was vulnerable to volcanic eruption, were spurious. There was no reason it could not be done, and suggests that the bitterness of the contest between the two underlines how closely matched they were.
In a way it was de Lesseps who decided. Though he did not complete the Panama Canal his initial work there ensured that the US would choose this site to finish the project.
One almost forgotten project was that by James Buchanan Eads, an engineer of real genius who dreamt of recreating a sort of Diolkos at Panama to drag ships overland using railways. Mack believes that this was actually feasible, if a genius of Eads's stature had lived to carry it out. But he died and the project was abandoned.
This book is somewhat disjointed because while the focus seems to be on the actual Panama Canal, and the proposed Nicaragua Canal, it includes all sorts of stories and anecdotes of questionable relevance to the subject. This would not be so bad, since much of it is interesting, except that it extends the book to encompass excessive length.
For example it is mentioned that Seward and Lincoln planned to have a colony of freed American slaves established at Chiriqui. This is a fascinating tidbit, but what does it have to do with an isthmian canal?
For a long time there was only the primitive Camino Real across the isthmus, and the area was surprisingly remote. The Spanish attempted to colonize Darien but gave up, due to the impenetrable character of the jungle. It remains remote and isolated today, with the Darien Gap in the news as a dangerous region for migrants.
It seems that the book is a history of the Panama Canal plus a general history of Panama. But it is entertaining if you can stick with it.
I had bought a couple of newer books about the Panama Canal, which is one of modern history's great engineering feats, and one that has had enormous importance for this hemisphere and for American global hegemony.
I was attracted to this title, however, because it purports to explain all of the various isthmian projects. And boy does it. This must be just about exhaustive of every proposal or survey ever done. I had hoped to find some information about Spanish proposals, and specifically to see whether my supposition that Spain opposed any isthmian canal as contrary to her own security in the Pacific was correct.
I did not find much information to answer that question. But I found much more. The entire history of de Lesseps and his company's attempt to build a canal is recorded here, and I have to consider it the core of the book. There's a lot about financial wizardry I don't well understand, as well as the trials the company's leaders faced. Sadly, of course, de Lesseps failed and died with the canal incomplete.
The author seems to have been particularly interested in the financial schemes of shady characters like Reinach and Cornelius Herz. There is a lot of drama and intrigue here but I couldn't bring myself to care overly much. Mack says Herz was blackmailing Reinach, but nobody knows how or with what. But it seems to me to be of only academic interest.
But I was glad to learn about the Tehuantepec Railway, recently in the stages of revival and there's even talk by Mexico of building a limited canal there. I learned that the Spanish-American War spurred American interest in the canal, which I knew before but I did not know that the US entered into negotiations to buy the assets of the French company only a few weeks before the Treaty of Paris.
Interestingly, there is considerable information on Humboldt's proposals and ideas for a canal, which was not covered by Andrea Wulf in her biography of Humboldt. Goethe, too, seems to have foreseen the canal and lamented that he would not live to witness it.
The first part of the book seems somewhat incongruous and unnecessary, since it describes the voyages of Columbus and Bastidas exploring the isthmus, as well as Balboa's adventures, and then there is an extended section on the various piratical attacks on the isthmus by the English privateers and others.
But I'm not sure how relevant this all is. Surely Francis Drake and Henry Morgan were not dreaming of an isthmian canal? They do not appear to have been such visionaries, though the Scottish attempt to colonize Darien is perhaps more permissible because a canal seems to have been suggested.
One might equally wonder what the point of covering the story of isthmian travel during the California Gold Rush was, apart from highlighting the advantages of a canal. Yet, is it really relevant to talk about Walker's filibustering or the Watermelon Riots?
Another lesser-known but interesting proposal was for a canal through Colombia, based on a supposed canoe portage but it was obviously impractical upon examination.
The negotiations for a canal through Panama are extensively covered, as is the American involvement in separating Colombia and Panama, as one would expect. Seapower was instrumental in this, and curiously Mack condemns the American action as high-handed and unnecessary. A strange admission for a work originally published in the 1940s.
Mack divides the book into sections, with the bulk of it shared between the French and American eras. He describes how de Lesseps insisted on a sea level canal like at Suez, and why this doomed the French to failure.
Unfortunately the sea level canal, while technically feasible, was exorbitantly expensive, so the United States decided to finish the canal using locks after purchasing the French company and negotiating the deal with Panama.
The disputes between Britain and the US are covered here as well, and it's interesting to note that the British were opposed to an American canal which reinforces my position with Spain. The Panama Canal would greatly boost American trade with South America, a region that had been dominated by British 'informal imperialism' since the early nineteenth century. The canal was another nail in the coffin for British influence.
One episode that piqued my interest was the invitation to Louis Napoleon, it's unclear whether he was being invited to rule Colombia and/or Panama, or simply to lead the construction of a canal. Either way nothing came of it.
Other unrealistic proposals included a canal through Patagonia, which could only be suggested due to profound ignorance of the geography.
Much of the work is taken up in painstakingly listing every survey or expedition ever sent to the isthmus. Most of these were charlatans, men who make ridiculous claims about impossibly low elevations to scam investors into thinking a canal would be both easy and cheap. It was, of course, neither of those things.
The French and American sections have detailed analyses of the projects from the perspective of the workers and in regards to things like healthcare. One reason for American success compared to that of France must be the discovery that malaria and yellow fever are caused by mosquitoes, and the determined campaign by the US Army doctors to eliminate these pests. Panama was just one part of this, as the US effectively declared war on the mosquito all across the hemisphere, for example in Cuba too during the American occupation.
Goethals is the star of the show during the American era, but Mack makes it clear that he was ably supported by all of his subordinates, without whom the canal could not have been completed. He also briefly mentions the decision by Wilson to provide an indemnity to Colombia for taking Panama away, and how that segued into the Good Neighbor Policy of the Roosevelt Administration.
A strong theme in this work is the competition provided by the Nicaraguan Canal. Eventually all other potential competitors fell to the wayside as too impracticable or too expensive. But Nicaragua remained a serious challenger until the end. Even while the US was acquiring the French company there were proposals to construct a canal in Nicaragua instead.
Interestingly enough, even after the completion of the canal at Panama, there were still proposals being floated to build a parallel canal at Nicaragua. Mack admits that most of the arguments against the Nicaraguan Canal, such as that it was vulnerable to volcanic eruption, were spurious. There was no reason it could not be done, and suggests that the bitterness of the contest between the two underlines how closely matched they were.
In a way it was de Lesseps who decided. Though he did not complete the Panama Canal his initial work there ensured that the US would choose this site to finish the project.
One almost forgotten project was that by James Buchanan Eads, an engineer of real genius who dreamt of recreating a sort of Diolkos at Panama to drag ships overland using railways. Mack believes that this was actually feasible, if a genius of Eads's stature had lived to carry it out. But he died and the project was abandoned.
This book is somewhat disjointed because while the focus seems to be on the actual Panama Canal, and the proposed Nicaragua Canal, it includes all sorts of stories and anecdotes of questionable relevance to the subject. This would not be so bad, since much of it is interesting, except that it extends the book to encompass excessive length.
For example it is mentioned that Seward and Lincoln planned to have a colony of freed American slaves established at Chiriqui. This is a fascinating tidbit, but what does it have to do with an isthmian canal?
For a long time there was only the primitive Camino Real across the isthmus, and the area was surprisingly remote. The Spanish attempted to colonize Darien but gave up, due to the impenetrable character of the jungle. It remains remote and isolated today, with the Darien Gap in the news as a dangerous region for migrants.
It seems that the book is a history of the Panama Canal plus a general history of Panama. But it is entertaining if you can stick with it.
Displaying 1 of 1 review