The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870—1914 (1977) is a book by the American historian David McCullough, published by Simon & Schuster. It won the U.S. National Book Award in History, the Francis Parkman Prize, the Samuel Eliot Morison Award and the Cornelius Ryan Award.The book details people, places, and events involved in building the Panama Canal. The title refers to the connection between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans that the opening of the canal created.U.S.