Parting the desert - Zachary Karabell

The idea of a canal linking the mediterranean with the Indian Ocean began with Napoleon Bonaparte but was masterminded by the French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps, who won a concession from the ruler of Egypt. Lesseps then travelled throughout Europe to raise money, and managed to win the support of Louis Napoleon and neutralize the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Although a persuasive public-speaker, he however never convinced Lord Palmerston, one of the towering figures of Victorian England, who was determined to prevent the canal's completion.

To carry out the enormous engineering project, Lesseps used both old tools and new ones: he set up a modern company governed by shareholders, but took advantage of forced labour, and he hired the best engineers of the day who designed machines to excavate the 100-mile long canal.

The creation of the Suez Canal captured the imagination of the world, heralded as a symbol of progress that would unite East and West, but its legacy is mixed. It was supposed to strengthen the Middle East and bridge cultures; instead the gap widened, and the new trade link between West and East had enormous repercussions.