Conceived in the early 1800s and completed in 1825, the Erie Canal was the boldest and biggest American engineering project of its century, with enduring political, social, and economic effects. It was the Erie Canal that first opened up the West to American enterprise and imagination, bringing vast riches and a far-reaching vision to a rapidly expanding nation. In this compelling narrative, author Gerard Koeppel tells the complete, sweeping story of the creation of the canal, and of the memorable characters who turned a visionary plan into a successful venture. Koeppel's extensive research includes major new findings about the construction of the canal as well as its enormous impact. Bond of Union provides a unique perspective on Manifest Destiny and the beginning of America's self-perception as an empire destined to expand to the Pacific. A historian of an aqueduct crucial to the nineteenth-century growth of New York City (Water for Gotham, 2000), Koeppel adopts infrastructure of comparable significance: the Erie Canal. Its economic impact––vaulting NYC over Philadelphia as the commercial capital of the U.S.––was ably recounted by business historian Peter Bernstein in Wedding of the Waters (2005); Koeppel adds greater emphasis in his narrative to the constellation of promoters and politicians who brought the canal into existence. Naturally, the name of DeWitt Clinton shines brightly, but who was Jesse Hawley? His story typified the mania for canal construction that swept America in the early 1800s: he was a bail-jumping upstate New Yorker with big ideas for improving transportation that he advocated in newspapers, and whose realization he witnessed when Clinton made his celebrated canal-opening voyage from Buffalo to Albany to New York in 1825. Similarly obscure but vital actors (such as legislators and engineers) in the Erie Canal saga populate Koeppel’s lively account, which ought to hook fans of construction-project dramas. --Gilbert Taylor Rome Sentinel , 1/6/10 “You’ll learn a lot about the Erie Canal…Or maybe unlearn some.” Lima News , 12/27/10 “[A] compelling, sweeping narrative…Memorable characters…Koeppel unearths major new findings about the construction of the canal along with the surprising twists and turns of the bold venture.” Choice , February 2010 “Departing from the standard sole praise for DeWitt Clinton, Koeppel adds many other names to the historical record…The book is well-researched and a good read about the various leaders of the effort, the various difficulties encountered while building the canal, and the backroom politics that swirled all around the project…Recommended.” Magill Book Review , October 2009 “A lively account of one of the most famous transportation projects in history and its impact upon America…Excellent…Explains why this waterway was necessary and how it was constructed…Fascinating…An enthralling tale of economic chaos, political intrigue, and monumental achievement. Bond of Union is history well worth reading.” Bloomsbury Review , October 2009 “Monumental public works inspire—and typically deserve—grand exposure in books. The Erie Canal is no exception, even 184 years after its completion. This book is hardly the first to examine that feat, but it is one of the best… Bond of Union provides some useful new information…but shines mostly as an engaging narrative, stitching together the backstory and detailing the painful, step-by-step progress—and sometimes, lack thereof—as the grand ditch inched its way across the landscape.” Journal of American History , December 2009 “A richly detailed account…A lively and often poignant account that is accessible to general readers and undergraduate students, while providing sufficient detail to engage historians…Koeppel reinvigorates this familiar story, deepening readers’ understanding of this crucial event in nineteenth-century America.” Named a A “Great Lakes, Great Reads” pick by the   Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association Gerard Koeppel is a writer, journalist, historian, and a former editor at CBS News. The author of the highly acclaimed Water for Gotham , he lives in Manhattan.