Heaven's Ditch: God, Gold, and Murder on the Erie Canal - Softcover

Kelly, Jack

  • 3.49 out of 5 stars
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9781250131522: Heaven's Ditch: God, Gold, and Murder on the Erie Canal
Softcover
ISBN 10: 1250131529 ISBN 13: 9781250131522
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin, 2017

Synopsis

A page-turning narrative, Heaven's Ditch offers an excitingly fresh look at a heady, foundational moment in American history.

The technological marvel of its age, the Erie Canal grew out of a sudden fit of inspiration. Proponents didn't just dream; they built a 360-mile waterway entirely by hand and largely through wilderness. As excitement crackled down its length, the canal became the scene of the most striking outburst of imagination in American history. Zealots invented new religions and new modes of living. The Erie Canal made New York the financial capital of America and brought the modern world crashing into the frontier. Men and women saw God face to face, gained and lost fortunes, and reveled in a period of intense spiritual creativity.

Heaven's Ditch by Jack Kelly illuminates the spiritual and political upheavals along this "psychic highway" from its opening in 1825 through 1844. "Wage slave" Sam Patch became America's first celebrity daredevil. William Miller envisioned the apocalypse. Farm boy Joseph Smith gave birth to Mormonism, a new and distinctly American religion. Along the way, the reader encounters America's very first "crime of the century," a treasure hunt, searing acts of violence, a visionary cross-dresser, and a panoply of fanatics, mystics, and hoaxers.

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About the Author

JACK KELLY is an award-winning author and historian. His books include Band of Giants, which received the DAR History Medal, and God Save Benedict Arnold, a Finalist for the New England Book Awards. He has published five novels, and is a New York Foundation for the Arts fellow in Nonfiction Literature. Kelly has appeared on The History Channel, National Public Radio, and C-Span. He lives in New York's Hudson Valley.

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Publisher
St. Martin's Griffin
Publication date
2017
Language
English
ISBN 10 
1250131529
ISBN 13 
9781250131522
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
304
Rating
  • 3.49 out of 5 stars
    616 ratings by Goodreads

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9781137280091: Heaven's Ditch: God, Gold, and Murder on the Erie Canal

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  1137280093 ISBN 13:  9781137280091
Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2016
Hardcover