The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914 in Crazy Challenge Connection

Feb 06, 2018 Kristin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, 1950-1989, 5000-books

This book is the first one I have read to complete a challenge, and oh what a challenge it was! This book is written by David McCullough, an author who has written several nonfiction books focusing on U.S. history. I was so excited to read this book, especially because it is a dream of mine to travel through the Panama Canal.

This book is not for wimps. History, politics, and engineering play equal parts in McCullough's rendition of the monumental task of building the Panama Canal. It is chock f This book is the first one I have read to complete a challenge, and oh what a challenge it was! This book is written by David McCullough, an author who has written several nonfiction books focusing on U.S. history. I was so excited to read this book, especially because it is a dream of mine to travel through the Panama Canal.

This book is not for wimps. History, politics, and engineering play equal parts in McCullough's rendition of the monumental task of building the Panama Canal. It is chock full of minute details of the planning and construction of the canal from the French's attempts to the completion by the U.S. Some may find this book difficult to slog through, and at times I would agree with that. At other times the pages fairly flew and all-in-all I was able to complete it a week ahead of the goal I had set to finish it.
Be prepared for lots of science, especially engineering, explained in the pages. Sometimes I skimmed through these parts, as frankly they were often over my head and too technical to wrap my brain around. I found the most interesting parts to be when McCullough talks about the interaction between the different personalities that propel the task of building this canal, from the French to the Panamanians, to the Americans.
My biggest critique of this book would be the maps. Often McCullough would talk about places that were not shown on the two maps contained in the book. I found this very frustrating. Also the maps were located several hundred pages apart from each other. I had to mark them with paper tabs, because I referred to them incessantly. I would have preferred at least one more map that would have shown some of the many small villages McCullough refers to. I also wish that both maps would have been put together, preferably at the front of the book. It also would have been very helpful if a map or diagram of just the Calebra Cut would have been included with the locations of various hills and slides shown on it.
The photographs were very revealing as I read about the different personages connected to the history of the canal. The pictures brought the characters alive for me.
I own this book and if I do get the chance to go to the Panama Canal, I will be sure to take it with me and refer to the different places as we travel along. ...more

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