In 1848, a group of ambitious American entrepreneurs decided to embark upon a remarkable engineering feat-they would build a railroad across the Isthmus of Panama to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The creation of the Panama Railroad ranks as one the boldest capitalist ventures in the 19th century, and would require battling climate, disease, and geography before it was completed. On a human level, it would transform the destiny of thousands of lives in America, Panama, the West Indies, and Asia, as well as in Ireland.
The Panama Railroad provides the first comprehensive account of the railroad's construction, going well beyond the known stories of the titans of industry involved with its construction, such as William Aspinwall, George Law, and Cornelius Vanderbilt. It seeks to correct false claims and address numerous gaps in past histories, and in particular showcases the stories of the ordinary Irish workers willing to travel halfway around the globe to pursue an uncertain future and a perilous undertaking in the hopes of escaping the devastating aftermath of the Great Famine of 1845-49.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Part I: Construction
1. The Grand Design
2. A False Start
3. Slow Progress
4. A New Departure
5. Hopes Dashed
6. The Final Push
Part II: The Workers
7. The Men Who Built the Railroad
8. Working Conditions
9. Workers' Amenities
10. Mortality
Part III: The Irish
11. The American Irish
12. The Men from Cork
Part IV: Epilogue
13. Railroad-Government Relations
14. The Aftermath
Conclusion
About the Author :
Peter Pyne was Lecturer in history in the Adult Education Department of Ulster University at Magee University College, Derry, before his retirement. He lives in Derry, Northern Ireland, where he and his wife run a bed and breakfast.
Review :
The first thing that readers will notice about this book is that it is the result of a very thorough examination of the railroad's construction. The extensive research that Pyne undertook in order to present this comprehensive story is commendable.
- Bill Hough (NRHS Bulletin) Pyne's work captures the challenges the railroad builders faced, allowing the reader to appreciate the enormity of the undertaking and what success meant in transforming maritime travel between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
- Michael K. Bess (Technology and Culture) Pyne provides detailed analyses of the immense engineering challenges of the initial construction phase, particularly on the Atlantic side, the many twists and turns of the financing and commercial operations of the line in both New York and Panama itself, and the increasingly conflictive relations between the railroad concessionaires and the Panamanian and Colombian authorities.
- Lowell Gudmundson (Latin American Research Review)
