The Path Between the Seas

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Truman," here is the national bestselling epic chronicle of the creation of the Panama Canal. In "The Path Between the Seas," acclaimed historian David McCullough delivers a first-rate drama of the sweeping human undertaking that led to the creation of this grand enterprise. "The Path Between the Seas" tells the story of the men and women who fought against all odds to fulfill the 400-year-old dream of constructing an aquatic passageway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is a story of astonishing engineering feats, tremendous medical accomplishments, political power plays, heroic successes, and tragic failures. Applying his remarkable gift for writing lucid, lively exposition, McCullough weaves the many strands of the momentous event into a comprehensive and captivating tale. Winner of the National Book Award for history, the Francis Parkman Prize, the Samuel Eliot Morison Award, and the Cornelius Ryan Award (for the best book of the year on international affairs), "The Path Between the Seas" is a must-read for anyone interested in American history, the history of technology, international intrigue, and human drama.

Contents

PREFACE

BOOK ONE: THE VISION 1870-1894

1. Threshold

2. The Hero

3. Consensus of One

4. Distant Shores

5. The Incredible Task

6. Soldiers Under Fire

7. Downfall

8. The Secrets of Panama

BOOK TWO: STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER 1890-1904

9. Theodore the Spinner

10. The Lobby

11. Against All Odds

12. Adventure by Trigonometry

13. Remarkable Revolution

14. Envoy Extraordinary

BOOK THREE: THE BUILDERS 1904-1914

15. The Imperturbable Dr. Gorgas

16. Panic

17. John Stevens

18. The Man with the Sun in His Eyes

19. The Chief Point of Attack

20. Life and Times

21. Triumph

Afterword

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

NOTES

SOURCES

INDEX

MAPS

Panama During the French Era

Panama, the Canal, and the Canal Zone

PICTURE SECTIONS