The Panama Canal: The Story of how a jungle was conquered and the world made smaller (Wonders of the World Book)
by Elizabeth Mann
(Click here)
Book Summary Information
Author: Elizabeth MannIllustrator: Fernando Rangel
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-02-04
ISBN: 1931414149
Number of pages: 48
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Publisher: Mikaya Press
Book Reviews of The Panama Canal: The Story of how a jungle was conquered and the world made smaller (Wonders of the World Book)
Book Review: Disappointingly biased without supporting evidence
Summary: 2 Stars
The Panama Canal is not the first book in the Wonders of the World series we've purchased. Thus I was dumbfounded to find the inaccuracies and outright bias with which The Panama Canal ends.
I am a trained medical scientist, a member of the American Chemical Society's medicinal and analytical divisions - one with a lifetime love of history. Thus, when I read "Black Carribeans suffered a higher rate of death from accidents and disease than any other group in the Canal Zone" I want to see the supporting evidence for that claim, especially as the author blames this disparity on official US government policy of segregation.
The eradication of yellow fever and control of malaria in the Panama Canal Zone under the lead of William Gorgas is one of the finest accomplishments of the United States Public Health Service, one for which we remain grateful even today. One recent report from Harvard University's Contagion program states:
"Gorgas's success in Panama was as dramatic as in Cuba: by 1906, he eradicated yellow fever and contained malaria during the canal's 10-year construction period. Gorgas's sanitary workers drained, or covered with kerosene, all sources of standing water to prevent mosquitoes from laying their eggs and larvae from developing; fumigated areas infested with adult mosquitoes; isolated disease-stricken patients with screening and netting; and constructed quarantine facilities. In major urban centers, new domestic water systems provided running water to residents, thereby eliminating the need for collecting rain water in barrels, which had provided perfect breeding sites for mosquitoes carrying yellow fever.
The US government's $20 million investment in the sanitation program also provided free medical care and burial services to thousands of employees. In addition, Gorgas's sanitation department dispensed approximately one ton of prophylactic quinine each year at 21 dispensaries along the Panama Canal route and added hospital cars to trains that crossed the Isthmus. Each year, hospitals treated approximately 32,000 workers, and 6,000 were treated in sick camps."
[...]
I have no doubt that more blacks suffered accidents & illness while working on the Panama Canal than did whites. Most of the lower paid jobs were filled by minorities from all over the world - Indians, Chinese and yes, Caribbeans. Most of the engineers were from the United States and white. There were very few black engineers anywhere in the world in 1903. But to describe that higher accident and illness rate as a result of racism is a total fallacy. More importantly, I have found no reliable statistics that bear out Mann's assertion that Caribbean workers suffered any higher rates of injury/illness than Indian workers or other ethnic groups.
In 1903 - the same year the US took over construction of the Panama Canal - a group of people in North Pownal, Vermont, suffered a much higher rate of accident and illness than their neighbors. Their children received a poor education and were often forced into dangerous work by age 10. These people were mostly immigrants and many did not speak English. They lived in substandard housing. They had little hope of ever leaving their dead end jobs or earning much more than they were making. You can read their story in Counting on Grace. Make no mistake, this is a story that was repeated in virtually every town and city in New England in 1903. And it is not a story about racism or disparate treatment because of color. It is a story about poverty, low pay and lack of rights for workers. That, too, is a story that is with us even today.
I was further dumbfounded to read that in Mann's estimation the building of the Panama Canal provided no military advantage to the US. Certainly the US Navy would disagree with her assessment. The Panama Canal was vital to US and Allied interests during WWII and made a response to the destruction of the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor possible months earlier than would have otherwise occurred.
Nothing pains me more than to see the rewriting of history taught to children in order to push some "politically correct" agenda. We've plenty of incidents of real bias that none need be invented. This is one Wonders of the World book that will not be used in my classroom. And I'll be very cautious about buying any others in the series.
Not recommended.
Summary of The Panama Canal: The Story of how a jungle was conquered and the world made smaller (Wonders of the World Book)
Panama was less than 50 miles wide, yet difficult to bridge by canal -- its swamps were disease-ridden, its mountainous rain forest challenged the most brilliant engineers, and its oppressive heat exhausted the hardiest workers. Engineers found ways to cut through the forest, medical visionaries conquered the diseases, and workers endured the jungle. Yet there were also broken treaties, political tyranny, and the tragedy of thousands of West Indian workers forced to live in awful, segregated conditions.Wonders of the World series
The winner of numerous awards, this series is renowned for Elizabeth Mann's ability to convey adventure and excitement while revealing technical information in engaging and easily understood language. The illustrations are lavishly realistic and accurate in detail but do not ignore the human element. Outstanding in the genre, these books are sure to bring even the most indifferent young reader into the worlds of history, geography, and architecture.
"One of the ten best non-fiction series for young readers." - Booklist
General Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Tapestry of Grace Year 4 Unit 1 Grammar (TOG Y4 U1 UG & LG)
Winnie-the-Pooh (Pooh Original Edition)by A. A. Milne
Puffin; Published: 1992-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.95
Price in other shops:
The Velveteen Rabbitby Margery Williams
HarperCollins; Published: 1999-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.59
Price in other shops:
Harlem Stomp!: A Cultural History Of The Harlem Renaissanceby Laban Carrick Hill
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Published: 2009-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.84
Price in other shops:
Where Poppies Grow: A World War I Companionby Linda Granfield
Fitzhenry and Whiteside; Published: 2005-04-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.86
Price in other shops:
World War I (DK Eyewitness Books)by Simon Adams
DK CHILDREN; Published: 2007-06-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.00
Price in other shops:
War Game: Village Green to No-Man's-Landby Michael Foreman
Anova Books; Published: 2006-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.94
Price in other shops:
In Flanders Fields: The Story of the Poem by John McCraeby Linda Granfield
Fitzhenry and Whiteside; Published: 1997-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.91
Price in other shops:
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Books of Wonder)by L. Frank Baum
HarperCollins; Published: 2001-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.69
Price in other shops:
Fanny Crosby: Queen of Gospel Songsby Rebecca Davis
Journey Forth; Published: 2003-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.59
Price in other shops:
Eric Liddell: Something Greater Than Gold (Christian Heroes: Then & Now) (Christian Heroes, Then & Now)by Janet Benge, Geoff Benge
Y W A M Pub; Published: 1998-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.54
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
If You Lived At The Time Of The Great San Francisco Earthquake (If You.)by Ellen Levine
Scholastic Paperbacks; Published: 1992-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.21
Price in other shops:
Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestraby Andrea Pinkney
Hyperion Book CH; Published: 2007-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.78
Price in other shops:
Where Poppies Grow: A World War I Companionby Linda Granfield
Fitzhenry and Whiteside; Published: 2005-04-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.86
Price in other shops:
Babe Ruth and the Baseball Curse (A Stepping Stone Book(TM))by David A. Kelly
Random House Books for Young Readers; Published: 2009-02-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.79
Price in other shops:
The Legend of the Teddy Bearby Frank Murphy, Frank Murphy, Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen
Sleeping Bear Press; Published: 2000-09-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.70
Price in other shops:
Louis Armstrong and the Jazz Age (Cornerstones of Freedom Second Series)by Dan Elish
Children's Press(CT); Published: 2008-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.86
Price in other shops:
The Building of the Panama Canal in Historic Photographsby Ulrich Keller
Dover Publications; Published: 1984-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.98
Price in other shops:
War Game: Village Green to No-Man's-Landby Michael Foreman
Anova Books; Published: 2006-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.91
Price in other shops:
World War I (DK Eyewitness Books)by Simon Adams
DK CHILDREN; Published: 2007-06-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.00
Price in other shops:
In Flanders Fields: The Story of the Poem by John McCraeby Linda Granfield
Fitzhenry and Whiteside; Published: 1997-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.40
Price in other shops: