Bridging the Border traces the long and interesting history of the many international bridges connecting Canada and the United States. The book provides a provocative look at the relationship between joint bridge construction projects and the building of Canadian-American relations. In so doing, it provides a social, political, and cultural approach to bridges, rather than a technical, engineering history.
The book begins with the story of the construction of the Niagara Suspension Bridge in 1848 and ends with proposals for additional bridges along the Niagara and Detroit rivers in the 1990s. Along the way, it traces the development of all bridges and tunnels along the St. Lawrence, Niagara, Detroit, St. Clair, St. Mary's, Pigeon, and Rainy rivers, from Cornwall in the east to Fort Frances and Rainy River in the northwest.
Robert M. Stamp first became acquainted with international bridges as a boy growing up in Port Colborne in the Niagara Peninsula of southern Ontario, where the Peace Bridge, Rainbow Bridge, and Whirlpool Bridge offered easy access to a magic wonderland called America. he lived in London, Ontario, during the 1960s, and realized that the Ambassador Bridge and Blue Water Bridge played similar roles for residents of southwestern Ontario. After travelling extensively around the province in later years, he became convinced that bridges across other international waters -- the St. Lawrence, St. Mary's, Pigeon, and Rainy rivers -- are all part of the same movement to guarantee easy access to the United States, a fundamental right of all Ontario residents.
Robert M. Stamp studied history at the University of Western Ontario and the University of Toronto, and taught at the University of Western Ontario and the University of Calgary. He now resides in Toronto where he makes his living as a historical writer and an antiquarian bookseller. His previous books include Kings, Queens and Canadians, Royal Rebels: Princess Louise and the Marquis of Lorne, QEW: Canada's First Superhighway, and Riding the Radials: Toronto's Suburban Electric Streetcar Lines.
