L’isthme de Panama is a study by the French economist and engineer Michel Chevalier examining the isthmus of Panama from historical and geographical perspectives. Writing in the nineteenth century, Chevalier considers the various routes by which the narrow land barrier between the oceans might be pierced and the means that could be employed to do so.
The text is in French. The work surveys the possibilities for an interoceanic canal across Central America and includes an overview of the isthmus of Suez, reflecting the era’s intense interest in connecting the seas. Chevalier brings economic and technical analysis to one of the great engineering questions of his age, long before the Panama Canal was built. The book stands as an important document in the history of ideas about global trade routes and canal construction.