If you’re looking for balanced treatment of the hottest political issue of the day, The Panama Canal Controversy (Hoover Institution, Stanford, Calif. 94305; $5.95), by Paul B. Ryan, comes pretty close to filling the bill.
Captain Ryan, a naval historian with extensive experience in the Caribbean, offers a little something for everybody. His discussion of the origins of the Canal, the diplomatic maneuvers by which it was obtained for the United States, and the issue of “sovereignty” do not always put the U.S. in the most favorable light and will not be uniformly pleasing to Canal hard-liners. Nor is he greatly exercised about the economic significance of the waterway to the United States.
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