THE CANAL BUILDERS: Making America’s Empire at the Panama Canal

(NYTBR) - ... “The Canal Builders,” by Julie Greene, a history professor at the University of Maryland, takes a very different approach. Less interested in the now fabled engineering feats of the project, she instead emphasizes the human dimension — the daily lives of the thousands of workers and family members who journeyed to the Canal Zone from all parts of the world seeking adventure, better wages or simply a fresh start. Who were they? What jobs did they do? Where did they live? What did they eat? How were they governed? Her answers provide a fascinating look at those who actually built the canal between 1904 and 1914, a largely forgotten population of 60,000 brought to life in a remarkably creative way. Continued