“Ideas too have their period of extrinsic incubation, and particularly if they run contrary to what has always seem…“Ideas too have their period of extrinsic incubation, and particularly if they run contrary to what has always seemed common sense.”Fact is almost always more interesting than fiction, and history is full of a lot of interesting facts. David McCullough has proved this time and time again in his books. “The Path Between the Seas” is one of his best examples. The history of the building of the Panama Canal is one I knew nothing about and it is one hugely fascinating story. The 44 year span between the beginnings of the project to the canal’s opening is a great human drama, and it is true to boot!The text is divided into 3 sections. Part One focuses on the French idea for the canal and their attempt at creating it. I knew nothing about this aspect of the Panama Canal. It is a grand story, with larger than life figures, ambitious schemes, and shadowy villains. It’s got it all, and it is edge of your seat reading. Part Two focuses on America’s taking over the project years after the French failed attempt. Part Three focuses on the completion of the project and some of the key players of that aspect.There were many highlights for me in this text, but one moment was McCullough’s detailing of the Panamanian Locks on the canal. It had this reader in 2019 shaking his head in amazement at what engineers accomplished in 1911! As McCullough aptly writes, “They were truly one of the engineering triumphs of all time, but for reasons most people failed to comprehend.” Someone in the time period wrote of the enterprise, “Strongly as the Panama Canal appeals to the imagination as the carrying out of an ideal, it is above all things a practical, mechanical and industrial achievement.” After reading this book you see just how much it is all of those things, and more!Over 40 years …