Reseña

The purpose of this book is to make known the origins and evolution of international canals of navigation, the epic of its construction, operation, commercial traffic and economic impact; from the ancient canals of the Phoenicians, Assyrians, Sumerians and Egyptians or ancient China, until arriving at the denominated Age of Canals arisen from the Industrial Revolution of the XVIII and XIX centuries.

In this publication, the reader will be able to travel through the Suez Canal, in the burning sands of the desert of the pharaohs of ancient Egypt; the canal that crosses the impenetrable rainforest of the Isthmus of Panama and that was the genesis of a nation, the Panama Canal; the amazing canal of Periander, second tyrant of Corinth and one of the Seven Sages of Greece, also a project of Roman emperors Julius Caesar and Nero, dug into the steep rock of that isthmus.

This research also aims to show the German engineering in the Kiel Canal, the Mittelland Canal and the 4 Ruhr Canals; the Rhine Meno Danube system, the backbone of the European canals; Seine Le Havre-Paris and Seine-Nord Europe Canal in France; in Belgium the amazing Strépy-Thieu elevator system on the Canal du Center, the impressive sloping lock of Ronquières on the Brussels-Charleroi Canal, the Brussels–Scheldt Maritime Canal and the Albert Canal.

In the Netherlands, the canals of Noordzeekanaal, Amsterdam-Rijnkanaaaland the Nieuwe connecting Amsterdam and Rotterdam with the North Sea; the Oder river with the canal of Gliwice in Poland, the Vltava River in the magical Prague in the Czech Republic, or the British classics Manchester Ship Canal and Bridgewater Canal.

Then the Five lakes canal, St. Lawrence Seaway, in the heart of North America, and the prodigious North American Canals System Mississippi River-Ohio-Erie; the striking canals of the Russian steppes and the Five seas, Volga Don Canal, Moscow Canal, Volga Baltic Canal; and the singular Nordic ice canals, Göta and Trollhätte in Sweden and Saimaa in Finland.

This journey concludes with the millennial Grand Canal of China; the exotic and vital Brahmaputra or Ganga from India; the Grand Canal of the glorious city on the sea, Venice, the city of canals; and a dreamed canal, the Canal of Castile in Spain.

In addition, the projects of the future are presented, the Persian Grand Canal, the Eurasia Canal, the Nicaraguan Canal and the Stad Ship Tunnel, tunnel for ships that crosses mountains.

The Canals, water routes, trade routes, knowledge routes, cultures and civilizations, routes of the Humanity... at the beginning, were almost impossible projects, and now at present, they are vital links of the 21st century global trade network.