Panama Fever: The Epic Story of One of the Greatest Human Achievements of All Time-- the Building of the Panama Canal
by Matthew Parker
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Book Summary Information
Author: Matthew ParkerEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-03-18
ISBN: 0385515340
Number of pages: 560
Publisher: Doubleday
Book Reviews of Panama Fever: The Epic Story of One of the Greatest Human Achievements of All Time-- the Building of the Panama Canal
Book Review: Intersting take on a great story
Summary: 5 Stars
The very narrowness of the Isthmus of Panam'less than forty miles wide in certain sections, together with the relative calmness of the two great masses of water which caress her shores, appears to have destined Panam'rom time immemorial to become, as present day Panamanians are proud to boast, "the Crossroads of the World."
That has not been accomplished without a price; the history of Panam'whether as an exploited Spanish colony, or as a neglected sector of Colombia, or as a republic, is replete with examples of decisions fundamental to her very existence and freedom being made by non-Panamanians in far away lands.
It all began in the 1490?s with Columbus? vain search for a water passage to the riches of the Far East. He never found it.
In 1501, Rodrigo de Bastidas became the first European to set foot on the Isthmus of Panam'SPAN>. After relieving the Indians of a fortune in pearls and gold, he enslaved as many hapless souls as he could20carry off. Thus, were native Isthmians first introduced to the ways more materially advanced civilizations. Time would change the list of characters but not necessarily their behavior.
Twelve years after Bastidas, the intrepid Vasco N?de Balboa marched into history at the head of a motley band of adventurers. He led them on a fifty-mile blood strewn trek through Panam's steaming jungles to discover the Pacific Ocean.
When they reached its shores the tide was out. So Balboa and his twenty-six men, the first Europeans ever to cast eyes upon that great body of water, found themselves, in spite of their proven ability to overcome man and nature, obliged to wait. Finally, the tide came in. Balboa, put on his armor and carrying ?a flag with the coat of arms of Castile and Leon on one side and a picture of the Virgin and child on the reverse,? plunged into the ocean and lay formal claim to its waters and all surrounding territories.
Interest in a transoceanic canal blossomed and motivated many a powerful person. The enlightened Charles V sent a team to ascertain the feasibility of constructing such a passage during the mid 1500's. His son the pious and inept Philip suppressed the preliminary studies stating that ?a canal would be against God's will.?
Many nations England, France, Scotland and the United States among others all had ambitions for the narrow isthmus. Time would pass, blood would be shed, fortunes and reputations would be lost but on August 15, 1914, the SS Ancon sailed into history as the first ship to transverse the Panama Canal. It was a dream come true.
Author Matthew Parker, born in Central America and educated in England, has written a distinct ive history of the dramatic and drastic battle to build the canal. Parker?s book is unique because aside from telling the fascinating story gracefully and with style he captures the anguish and grim reality of those consumed by the endeavor. He depicts clearly and concisely the human price that was paid. He is one of the few to acknowledge the tremendous contributions made by many Jamaicans, Barbadians and other West Indians who flocked to the Isthmus to earn a living but became as enamoured as any group with the magnitude and nobility of their task. With all of its cruel challenges, it was an inspiring undertaking. Those who participated, and lived, never forgot it.
Few nations have had a closer or more intimate relationship than the United States of America and the Republic of Panam'SPAN>. The latter would not exist today had the United States not actively supported the latest of over 83 uprisings on the Isthmus in less than 80 years. President Theodore Roosevelt was not acting altruistically. He was perhaps the most impatient man ever to reside in the White House. He was determined to build a canal and quickly. He grew weary of Colombia?s vacillating negotiations and took matters into his own hands. His behavior abhorrent to many today was perfectly in keeping with how great powers acted 100 years ago.
Through Roosevelt's leadership, passion, and consuming determination to build a canal, thousands of his countrymen would brave the tropical desolation that was Panam'n the first decade of the 20th century. They would succeed where the French had fa iled reaping financial scandal, political turmoil and embarrassment.
The book in enriched by Parker?s extensive use of first hand sources such as letters sent back home to the Caribbean Islands, the United States, England and other countries. They relate the daily reality and routines of tens of thousands of common men and women who succeeded admirably.
Parker fleshes out the human contributions of these tens of thousands from scores of countries who built the engineering marvel that is the Panama Canal. It is a refreshing and inspiring story elegantly written.
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Summary of Panama Fever: The Epic Story of One of the Greatest Human Achievements of All Time-- the Building of the Panama Canal
A thrilling tale of exploration, conquest, money, politics, and medicine
The Panama Canal was the costliest undertaking in human history. It literally required moving mountains, breaking the back of the great range that connects North and South America. Begun by the French in 1880, its successful completion in 1914 by the Americans marked the end of the Victorian Age and the beginning of the ?American Century.?
The building of the Panama Canal was a project whose gestation spanned hundreds of years. Columbus himself searched for a way to get to the Pacific across the narrow isthmus of Central America. For centuries, monarchs, presidents, businessmen, and explorers all struggled to find such a passage, knowing that whoever controlled it would exert unsurpassed control over global trade, and therefore the fate of nations.
The first history of this mighty achievement in nearly thirty years, Panama Fever draws on diaries, memoirs, letters, and other contemporary accounts, bringing the experience of those who built the canal vividly to life. The massive project riveted public attention: ?Panama Fever? spread throughout the Western world. Politicians and businessmen engaged in high-stakes international diplomacy in order to influence its location, path, ownership, and construction. Meanwhile, ditch-diggers, machinists, drivers, engineers, and foremen from all over the world rushed to take advantage of high wages and the chance to be a part of history.
But the grim reality of Panama ? searing heat, torrential rains, fatal mud slides, and malarial mosquitoes ? soon caught up with them. More than 25,000 of those who enthusiastically signed on as workers succumbed to dysentery, yellow fever, and malaria, giving a fatal twist to the meaning of ?Panama Fever.? The truly horrific toll unleashed a second race to find a cure so the canal could be completed. The discoveries of the heroic doctors who battled these diseases would lead to a sea change in the way infectious diseases were treated, thus paving the way for the tremendous medical advances of the twentieth century.
Filled with remarkable characters, including Teddy Roosevelt, Ulysses S. Grant, and Ferdinand de Lesseps, the French genius who built the Suez Canal and almost snatched Panama out from under American control, Panama Fever is an epic historical adventure that shows how a small but fiercely contested strip of land in a largely unknown Central American nation suddenly made the world a smaller place and launched the era of American global dominance.
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