Construction on the Panaman Canal began in the 1880s, under Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the Suez Canal, but foundered due to intractable technical challenges and the loss of thousands of workers from malaria and yellow fever. In 1904, the canal works and equipment were purchased by the USA, and work recommenced. The introduction of locks overcame some of the technical difficulties that had frustrated the French, and by 1914 the Panama Canal was open to shipping. The present work provides an excellent record of some of the thousands of men - and a few women - engaged in the management and construction of the Canal. Each entry provides a portrait and resumé of the subject’s career and involvement, interspersed with illustrations of the construction. This copy was on sale at Trott’s Variety Store in Colon, and presented by the store owner Ernest Trott to his parents. Trott is depicted on p. 181: an Englishman by birth, he worked in the Canal’s storerooms and railway from 1906-1910, setting up his shop in that year with his wife Genevieve Burgoyne.