Prize Possession: The United States Government and the Panama Canal 1903–1979

by John Major

Prize Possession is a comprehensive history of U.S. policy toward the Panama Canal between 1903 and 1979, focusing on five key themes: the Canal's defense and its place in American strategy; the Zone's autocratic system of government; its strictly segregated labor force; its commercial development at the expense of Panama; and the equally controversial issue of U.S. intervention in Panamanian politics. The book is based for the most part on the hitherto largely untapped sources of U.S. government agencies, namely the State, War, and Navy Departments, and the Canal Zone administration, as well as on the papers of notable dramatis personae such as Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt and Philippe Bunau-Varilla.

Paperback

First published October 30, 1993

About the author

Sir John Major, KG, CH.

Member of Parliament from 1979-2001. Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from 28 November 1990 – 2 May 1997.

Invested a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in 1999 and a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter (KG) in 2005.