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Book Notes David J. Weber, Book Review Editor
Among the many useful recent Da Capo Press reprints is John Haskell Kemble’s Panama Route, 1848 - 1869 (1972; $15.00). In rich detail, Kemble examines the fastest and most used route between California and the East Coast during the years between the Mexican War and the completion of the transcontinental railroad. Kemble treats such subjects as the conditions of travel—both by land and by sea, the business rivalries over control of the route, the role of the United States government, and the ships themselves. The appendices contain descriptions of each steamer which operated on the route, along with other information of use to maritime historians. First published in 1943, Kemble's Panama Route has long deserved to be made more widely available. |
