"The Artificial River is deeply researched, its arguments are both subtle and clear, and it is written with grace and an engagingly light touch. The book merits a wide readership."--Paul Johnson, The Journal of American History
"A beautifully written and unpretentious book that reveals how little historians have known about something they have written so much about: the Ere Canal."--Richard White, University of Washington
"[Sheriff] renders the Erie Canal's history from a fresh point of view . . . the everyday lives of ordinary people who lived along the waterway."--Paul Grondahl, Albany Times Union
"Broadly conceived, imaginatively researched, incisively argued, and gracefully written."--Robert H. Wiebe, Northwestern University
"An excellent study of an important, all too often neglected period."--Lee Milazzo, The Dallas Morning News
