God, Gold, and Murder on the Erie Canal

“Kelly’s is a fine and lively portrait of an eccentric and lastingly influential phase in American history.” –Booklist

“ . . . has a gift for knocking the starch out of history.” –Chronogram

“Kelly is an excellent storyteller. . . . Anyone who thinks that our present society is vulgar, hysterical, and scary would do well to read this book. The power of the press, clergymen, and mere word-of-mouth rumor to whip the public into a frenzy isn’t a new thing. Kelly is adept at showing his readers how indifferent we can be to either truth or logic.” –Ithaca Times

“Jack Kelly has a whole new take on two old creations—the Erie Canal and the Second Great Awakening—deftly synthesizing familiar separate stories into a timeless interplay of technological and religious fervor, speculation and salvation. Heaven’s Ditch reminds us how man and God have long mingled in the psyche of America where strong, deep, competing urges for commercial and spiritual uplift give us destructive chaos and astonishing progress. Heaven’s Ditch is beautifully written and masterfully told: intelligent and insightful new history.”
-Gerard Koeppel (Author of Bond of Union: Building the Erie Canal And the American Empire)

WEBSITE – HeavensDitch.com

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