About this ebook
“[This] book is important. It is the first definitive history of the Panama Canal, richly complete with colorful details of the explorations, conquests, intrigues, crackpot theories and engineering genius that went into the making of it... The Land Divided is an important book.” — The New York Times
“A history of the Panama Canal which should provide for study and reference the definitive book on that project. From the 16th century explorers, the search for the ‘doubtful strait’, the first conception of an artificial canal in 1529, this outlines the adventures and aggressions in Spanish waters down to the 19th century and the French revival of the project of a canal. Meticulous tracing of the controversy, of local affairs in Panama, of political and international claims and disputes, of private interests vying with government interests, innumerable surveys, accelerated interest as the gold discoveries in California emphasized the need. Then de Lesseps, and the grandiose scheme and tragic failure, the bankruptcy of the Panama Canal Company and the ensuing scandals. The formation of a new international company, rivalry between Nicaragua and Panama, the U.S. purchase of the concession, the decision for the lock canal, and the amazing achievement with Gorgas and Goethals responsible. A history which is history, politics, finance, science, and which ignores no phase and no detail of the accomplishment that was to unite the world.” — Kirkus
“[A]n exhaustive history of the Panama Canal... The author has achieved splendid success in his five years of careful research, compilation, and presentation of a full-length history of all the elements present in the creation of the canal... the author deserves recognition for his painstaking effort and ability in writing this scholarly volume.” — Proceedings of the US Naval Institute
“The economic historian will find this book interesting and useful. It covers the whole history of the isthmian route — the search for a strait, the transit business, the abortive canal projects, the construction of the Panama Canal.” — The Journal of Economic History
“Of prime interest to the historian and economist perhaps, this book should be a welcome addition to any serious geographical library. It is a systematic and well documented history of the Panama Canal and other isthmian canal projects... Mr. Mack has produced a most useful and readable account.” — The Geographical Journal
“[A] book written with knowledge and insight.” — Geographical Review
“[A] useful work of reference.” — Political Science Quarterly
About the author
Born in San Francisco, Gerstle Mack (1894-1983) studied architecture at UC-Berkeley before switching to MIT where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1916. He worked as an architectural draftsman in New York until World War I. After serving in the War in Paris as a Lieutenant in the US Reserve Corps of Engineers, he returned to San Francisco to do architectural work and theater design production. In 1926 he left his architecture work to travel to Spain where he made architectural measurements and produced a book on southern Spanish architecture in 1928. A companion volume for northern Spanish architecture appeared in 1930.
Mack did extensive archival research in France, England and the United States on Paul Cézanne before publishing a highly praised biography of the painter in 1935. He followed this with a biography of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in 1938, which was equally well received. During World War II, Mack served in the military in England with the Office of Strategic Services. The Land Divided, his history of the Panama Canal, was published in 1944 and his biography of Gustave Courbet appeared in 1951. In 1981, he wrote a book on the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, which he personally survived. He lived in Manhattan after 1938 until his death, and travelled extensively across the world.
