This book is well researched and written and presents a different spin from other books that focused on the building of the canal. It encompasses the many different groups that lived and worked along the Erie Canal. It starts with the Native Americans who lost the land upon which the canal was built, the immigrants who worked on and around the canal, the use of the canal as part of the Underground Railroad and the wide range of colorful characters who were in some way connected to the canal. A must read for those interested in the history of New York State.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook page.

I was engaged with figuring out what was going on in this story, it was everything that I was looking for in a historical nonfiction book. I was engaged with what was going on and thought it was a interesting story. Mark S. Ferrara does a great job in writing this and left me wanting to read more.

A great description of life and labor along the Erie Canal. The study is a skillful blend of immigration, labor, and social history that captures the hard lives of toil these workers endured. Ferrara depicts an ecosystem of labor that takes into account the worksite, company infrastructure, and informal social networks that shaped the lives of these laborers. I feel like the canal building projects were the Eastern and Midwestern equivalent of the building of the railroads in the west.