This is the story of American canals and the people who built them, a wonderful and rich slice of our history. The central focus of this fascinating study is the Erie Canal, which was completed in the 1820s. Stretching from Albany to Buffalo, and connecting the Hudson River with the Great Lakes, it covered a distance of 363 miles through a system of 83 locks. (232pp. illus. index. hardcover with dust jacket. W. W. Norton & Co., 1992.)