First Sentence

"The very narrowness of the Isthmus of Panama, less than forty miles wide in certain sections, together with the relative calmness of the two great masses of water which caress her shores, appears to have destined Panama from time immemorial to become, as present day Panamanians are proud to boast, "the Crossroads of the World." This has not been accomplished without a price: the history of Panama, whether as a Spanish colony , or as an invariably neglected sector of Colombia, or as a republic, is replete with examples of decisions fundamental to her very existence and freedom being made by non-Panamanians in alien lands."