HEAVEN'S DITCH God, Gold, and Murder on the Erie Canal

The Erie Canal was built during the Second Great Awakening in American religion, when New York State was a hotbed of religious fervor. These are the twin focuses of this audiobook. Andrew Reilly offers a solid, engaging narration that captures the excitement of the period. He varies his pace nicely to keep the text flowing for the listener. But his narration can't overcome structural problems with the text itself. The author jumps from topic to topic so often that it's hard for listeners to follow, and the multitude of personalities makes it hard to keep people straight. This is really two histories--one of the canal and one of religious fervor. Because of Reilly's reading, diligent listeners will learn a lot about both. R.C.G. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2016]