The Suez Canal is one of the world’s most famous waterways - connecting the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, and opening up trade between the East and the West. But ever since its legendary construction in 1869, the Suez Canal has been at the centre of conflict and controversy. Why does a ditch in a desert spark years of political crises? Who helped turn a pharaoh’s dream into a reality? And how does a 19th Century waterway still hold the key to global trade almost 2,000 years later?

This is a Short History Of The Suez Canal.

Written by Kate Harrison. With thanks to Sal Mercogliano, former merchant mariner and professor of history at Campbell University. And Alex Von Tunzelmann, author of ‘Blood and Sand: Suez, Hungary, And The Crisis That Shook The World’.

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