The Cape Cod Canal: Breaking Through the Bared and Bended Arm

by J. North Conway

The cradle of New England's shipping doubled as its casket, earning the sailing route around Cape Cod the nickname of graveyard of the Atlantic. J. North Conway plunges into the character of Cape Cod, from its discovery to its chowder, and of the man who managed to cut a path through it.

Genres: History

230 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2008

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little bit of every thing...

Conway is a good writer, but this book itself left me puzzled. At times, it included seemingly random historical facts on the Cape itself, which had the tendency to lose the reader a little bit. I realize they probably needed to fill pages, but it was to the detriment of the story about the canal itself. I will say as someone who has travelled over and along the canal in the past, I will definitely look at it differently in the future, and for that reason, I enjoyed the book in spite of its shortcomings.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read covering this unappreciated engineering marvel. Did you know that the Canal was first proposed in the 1620's by Captain Myles Standish? So, many studies were constructed about the project over a two-century period that it became a running joke that you couldn't turn around on the Cape without bumping into a surveyor. Or that an alternative considered was a Weymouth to Taunton River Canal? The latter was dropped in the late 19th century as ships were becoming too big for the river's width and depth.
Originally constructed by a private company (August Belmont of the famous racing track was the engineer and principal owner) in 1914, the Canal was quickly taken over by the Federal government due to national security concerns. The structure we see today was a result of a WPA rebuild the 1930's.

[Bruce · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great history and information, but many paragraphs are redundant. Some pictures do not correspond with the byline below.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars for all the material assembled in the book. Writing style is
Not my thing - repetitive and droning. Rambling thoughts throughout...

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very general on the actual canal. Had a lot of Cape history and shipwrecks info.

[Adam Sarlan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A history of the process and building of the Cape Cod Canal.

[Christina Gagliano · Rating 4 out of 5]

For total content, I give this book 5 stars. For the quality of editing done on this book, I give it zero stars. Hence, three stars.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many New Englander's take the Cape Cod Canal for granted but it took a lot of time and effort to get it finally see it come to reality. First thought of in the 1600's as a bypass for the dangerous trek around Cape Cod it was until the early 1900's it was finally opened. This easy to read book gives you the story behind this New England iconic landmark. Worth a checking out if your interested in New England history.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great, interesting facts on this national treasure. Plus interesting, not well known information on the people, and history of the Cape.