How was George Eiffel of the Eiffel Tower involved in a huge corruption scandal associated with the Panama Canal? How many workers died during the French attempt to build the canal? And who was Bunau-Varilla and how did this smooth-talking moustache-wielding French engineer manage to sweet talk the US government to back his plan?

Anita and William are joined once again by Matthew Parker, author of Hell’s Gorge: The Battle To Build The Panama Canal, to discuss how French dreams were dashed when the project came crumbling down, and how one man climbed out of the rubble and charmed his way to the White House… 

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Assistant Producer: Becki Hills

Producer: Anouska Lewis

Executive Producer: Neil Fearn

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