Panama fever
Subtitle: the battle to build the canal
By: Matthew Parker.
Publisher: Hutchinson
Published: 2007
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 444
ISBN-13: 9780091797041
Subjects: Canals -- Panama -- Design and construction -- History; Panama Canal (Panama) -- Design and construction; Panama Canal (Panama) -- History
Description: Panama Fever traces a heroic dream that spanned four centuries: to build a canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.The human cost was immense: in appalling working conditions and amid epidemics of fever, tens of thousands perished fighting the jungle, swamps and mountains of Panama, a scale of attrition comparable to many great battles. This is a remarkable book about empire and technology. Starting as a story of European Victorian confidence and hubris, it develops, via one of history's greatest engineering disasters, into an account of America's ruthless triumph over vast obstacles as it moves forward to dominate the twentieth century.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [418]-425) and index.