Dust jacket notes: "In the half century following the War of 1812, America went canal crazy, and a network of four thousand miles of artificial waterways was built in the eastern half of the country so as to provide a safe, adequate, and reasonably cheap system of transportation. These canals helped end the isolation of great sections of the country, not only opening a market for the farmer, back-country mills, and factories, but also providing employment for thousands of men - owners, captains, boaters, lock tenders, and weighmasters - most of whom were hard drinking and violent tempered, and often the prey of harpies and their criminal consorts. Life on the canal was seldom placid, and these men regarded themselves a breed apart from the rustics with whom they came into daily contact...." 152 black-and-white illustrations. - from Amzon