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Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford — The Great Frenchman's Folly (Panama Disaster 1)
Not scored yet39m·2025-05-16·History

The Great Frenchman's Folly (Panama Disaster 1)

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford · 19

Ferdinand De Lesseps, "the Great Frenchman", is convinced that he is the man to build the Panama Canal. No, he isn't an engineer and, no, he's never actually been to Panama before. But he managed to dig the Suez Canal, and everyone said that would be impossible too. How hard can it be? For a full list of sources, see…

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