Page 313 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

Books CONTEXTS 311
Books

Bookshops are far from plentiful in Panama. Most are located in Panama
City (see p.86), generally stocking a small, pricey selection in English. The
colossus of contemporary Panamanian literature is Enrique Jaramillo Levi –
internationally acclaimed short-story writer, poet, essayist, editor and critic,
who, despite such accolades, has had relatively few works translated into
English. New authors, such as Afro-Panamanian Melanie Taylor Herrera, have
short stories and poetry translated into English scattered round various
journals, some of which are accessible online.

THE CANAL
Rosa Maria Britton and Eduardo Montaina The New Ulrich Keller The Building of the Canal in Historic
Panama Canal: A Breathtaking Journey Between the Pacific Photographs. A clear case of pictures speaking louder than
and Atlantic Oceans. Expensive coffee-table book published words, as 164 detailed black-and-white photos evoke the
to mark the 2016 opening of the expansion of the Canal, lives of both rich and poor engaged in the monumental
offering spectacular colour photos and stunning views. struggle to build the Canal.
William Friar Portrait of the Panama Canal: Celebrating its ★ David McCullough The Path Between the Seas: The
history and expansion. Updated edition to include the Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870–1914. Though this is a
recent Canal expansion, this readable account by former detailed scholarly work of seven hundred pages, the plot-
Zonian and New York Times journalist is a paperback coffee- twisting narrative and larger-than-life characters sweep
table offering containing a few wonderful historical photos the reader along, together with a focus on understanding
as well as some more mundane contemporary glossies of the underlying causes of events.
the Canal and Panama. ★ Matthew Parker Hell’s Gorge: The Battle to Build the
★ Julie Greene The Canal Builders: Making America’s Panama Canal (also published as Panama Fever). A gripping
Empire at the Panama Canal. Long overdue focus on the account of the struggle with jungle, disease, engineering
men and women who, in dreadful conditions and facing all impossibilities and disastrous ignorance, which is a
sorts of discrimination, worked to achieve the realization of meticulously researched yet wide-ranging narrative that
America’s grandiose dream of empire. You also meet the focuses on the oft-neglected labour force that lived and
big players whose ambition ignored the human cost. died digging the Big Ditch.
OTHER HISTORY AND POLITICS
Kevin Buckley Panama. Written by a former Newsweek Aims McGuinness Path of Empire: Panama and the
correspondent, this book provides what many consider to Californian Gold Rush. A look at the key role played by the
be the most reliable account of events leading up to the US isthmus during the Gold Rush in the mid-1800s as the
invasion of Panama in 1989. Buckley vividly brings the fastest link between New York and San Francisco, the
complex web of corruption and political intrigue to life. consequences of building the Panama Railroad and the first
Peter Earle The Sack of Panama: Captain Morgan and the of many military interventions by the US.
Battle for the Caribbean. Swashbuckling account of the real- Bastian Obermayer and Frederik Obermaier The
life pirates of the Caribbean and the Spaniards’ efforts to Panama Papers: Breaking the Story of How the Rich and
defeat them, focusing on the Welsh privateer Henry Powerful Hide Their Money. Both gripping and disheartening
Morgan and his exploits, culminating in the sack of Panama in equal measure. Insights into the exposé on how the
in 1671. global political, commercial and celebrity elite use
John Esquemeling The Pirates of Panama: True Account perfectly legal offshore accounts for tax avoidance, while
of the Famous Adventures and Daring Deeds of Sir Henry their funds are used to launder drug money.
Morgan and Other Notorious Freebooters. Based on a lively Andrew Parkin Flames of Panama: The True Story of a
firsthand account originally written in Dutch, the first Forgotten Hero, Pedro Prestán. Dramatized true story of a
English edition was published in 1684. The author was lawyer of mixed heritage who rose to eminence in Colón
barber surgeon to Henry Morgan and accompanied him on and became a member of the Assembly, only to be hanged
his notorious expedition against Panama City. as a leader of rebel forces, falsely accused of burning Colón

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