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The Landmark series for children, both American and World, is a wonderful, with few exceptions, collection of books written in the 1950s and 1960s and published by Random House. The publisher chose well-known authors, some of whom were novelists and some of whom had not written for children before, and had a historical consultant for each title to make sure that the writing was accurate. There are 122 American Landmark books and 63 World Landmark books. The reading level is fairly broad, intended for upper elementary to early high school levels. The books were intended to convey sound history or biography but in such a manner as to not detract from the intrinsic interest of the story, as history textbooks often do, but to bring out the fascination and drama of the history or historical character being discussed. History is at heart a series of stories, especially at this level, and should be told as such. For the overwhelming majority of the 185 titles, this effort was successful.
Number 18 in the American Landmark series is The Panama Canal by Bob Considine. For many years, the only way around North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific was around Cape Horn, the southern tip of South America. Many of the Americans who went to the 1849 California Gold Rush (see the #6 American Landmark book, The California Gold Rush) took this sailing route, which took many months. Eventually, with much effort a railroad line was laid across Central America that made such travel easier but at the cost of unloading and reloading ships at either end of the railroad. In any event, this worked for people and cargo, not ships. The French, after their success building the Suez Canal, tried and failed to dig a canal across Central America.
Finally, after the turn of the century between the 1800s and the 1900s, an American effort, led by President Theodore Roosevelt, finally achieved a working canal across Panama. The leadership of Theodore Roosevelt in this effort is just one of the many reasons his bust is carved into Mt. Rushmore. The Panama Canal opened for business in 1914. This was a tremendous effort, a feat of engineering practically unique in history. The main difficulty was getting across the elevated land in the middle of the route. Many giant locks had to be constructed. I went through a lock once on a small canal, the C&O Canal in Maryland. It is quite a feeling for your boat to slowly rise up as the lock is filled with water. In the Plumfield Library is the book Richard Halliburton’s Complete Book of Marvels by Richard Halliburton, which gives a humorous account of the author swimming through the Panama Canal, including the locks! He was accompanied by a sharpshooter in a row boat, to take care of any too-inquisitive alligators. Key to the success of the Panama Canal construction effort was conquering yellow fever, which plagued the French efforts (see the #78 American Landmark Book, The Doctors Who Conquered Yellow Fever).
The Panama Canal Landmark book describes a key part of American history but also gives insight into current events. The Panama Canal was given back to Panama around 1980. Eventually, Chinese government-related contractors gained control over the key ports at either end of the Canal. Very recently, due to United States’ pressure as we compete world-wide with the domineering Chinese Communist Party, Panama revoked those contracts. The Canal is extremely important to us militarily, since we are a two-ocean (at least) Navy, with strength in the Atlantic and the Pacific. It played a crucial role in World War II as our strength went back and forth between the war in Europe and the war in the Pacific. The author of The Panama Canal, Bob Considine, also wrote 30 Seconds Over Tokyo, Landmark Book #35, about the famous Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in World War II. He was a well-known journalist in World War II and wrote many other books.