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Hell's Gorge: The Battle To Build The Panama Canal (2008)

by Matthew Parker(Favorite Author)

3.69 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0099484331 (ISBN13: 9780099484332)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Arrow

review 1: I started this book in a comfortable state-of-mind, in a comfortable chair, and in comfortable clothes. I finished in a humid environment, sweat pouring down, fighting off the mozzies trying to bite me. Yes, it was the height of summer, but still I think the writing had something to do with my changed state of affairs. This book is quite an achievement, taking us from the early explorations of the Europeans to the Central America isthmus through the final completion via the Americans. The jungle is humid, one nation after another tries to build a canal, scores of people die trying, and sickness is everywhere. It wasn't just any malady, but Yellow Fever, aka "Blood Vomit". The French simply couldn't fight it, so the Yanks took over and eradicated the presence of the disease... more in Panama, allowing the construction of the canal to take place.Matthew Parker's writing is engrossing. Just when you think one person is successful, they die, or their family dies, and we know everything has to start all over again. Today, we take the Panama Canal for granted, but what a magnificent story. Just read it with cool air and a can of Deet.Book Season = Summer (yucky heat)
review 2: It is an interesting book because the subject is fascinating. Unfortunately, Matthew Parker, like most historians, wants to regurgitate all the information he has gathered in his research. The result is a book that gives you too much detail and is boring at times. Additionally MP is incapable of giving decent description of some of the engineering masterpieces that were designed and used for this extraordinary engineering achievement. Still one learns a lot through the book including about the incredibly colonialist approach of the US when they took over Panama from Colombia. less

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