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Wedding of the Waters: The Erie Canal and the Making of a Great Nation
Wedding of the Waters The Erie Canal and the Making of a Great Nation Author:Peter L. Bernstein "One corner of the great American panorama enlarged to highlight starry-eyed visionaries, political machinations, indefatigable ingenuity, and cockeyed optimism."Kirkus Reviews — A sweeping work of history by Peter L. Bernstein, Wedding of the Waters recounts the revolutionary conception, construction, and completion of... more » the Erie Canal, one of the greatest engineering projects ever undertaken and the crucial link between the Atlantic states and the bounties of the western lands beyond the Appalachian Mountains. This stupendous project was a daunting challenge at every turn, for the financiers and politicians as well as the would-be engineers. With its emphasis on technological ingenuity, global economics, financial skills, and America's changing role in the world, Wedding of the Waters is a story for our own times. 20 illustrations.« less
Fascinating and thorough history of the Erie Canal, from the politics and technology that led up to it, to the actual building, completion, and what followed. Couldn't put it down, being the history buff that I am. Informative and accessible.
As a resident of western NY, the terminus of the Erie Canal, I found this book to be ineteresting. It did stray into a lot of politcs and workd history which was important but I had been hoping it was more of how they overcame the logistical and engineering problems of the process. Still, it was worth reading.