Modern Marvels - Suez Canal (History Channel)
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DVD details
Artist: Artist Not ProvidedDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 50 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-05-02
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: A&E Home Video
DVD Reviews of Modern Marvels - Suez Canal (History Channel)
DVD Review: Short and concise history of the region
Summary: 4 Stars
This 45-minute documentary is not just about the building of a canal, but of the creation of Arab nationalism and modern Egypt. It covers the 110-year history from its inception in the 1850/60s to the Egyptian-Israeli War of the 1960s with constant expansion and daily dredgings, but today is only wide enough to allow one modern ship one-way passage at a time. (There are five by-passes to prevent bottlenecking of ship traffic.)
The documentary can be divided into three parts. The first part is history of the region's history back to ancient times, when even pharaohs dreamed of a thru-way canal off the Red Sea. The Romans and later the Muslims had visions of building a canal, but desert winds and pirates always reclaimed the area. This covers the first ten minutes.
The second part covers the planning and construction of the canal during Europe's industrial years, just as the steamships became popular. French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps, an engineer, believed strongly in building a canal and worked closely with the Egyptian prince Mohammed Zaid in the 1850s. The early phases of the canal's construction was a five-year endeavor completed mostly by poor Egyptians using their hands and basic tools to break open the swampy lands. Zaid and De Lesseps supervised this process. But then England intercepted this because England wanted control of the region and sought European financiers to help block the French program. An English-French rivalry ensued once again. This is the longest phase of this documentary lasting over 20 minutes, ten minutes covering the early planning, the other ten minutes covering the construction and the slave-like working conditions for the 60,000 Egyptians peasants who were drafted for this project. Were these peasants paid for their work? Historians disagree with this answer. I found this part of the documentary the most interesting.
The third phase covers the post-WW II era that now includes Israel and the United Nations and the growth of modern Arab nationalism. This lasts another ten minutes.
The final five minutes covers the modern canal, showing color video of 1980s footage.
Archived photographs, talking heads (historians and descendants of De Lesseps) and color video show and describe the canal's history in fascinating sequence.
One sees how the canal became a symbol of slave labor, international rivaltry, Arab nationalism and European and Middle Eastern power. Although I can not vouch for the accuracy of this documentary, I still find this worthwhile to view. The cost of this video is rather high, though, so I recommend you purchase it through a third-party vendor through Amazon for much less.
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