Going Solo, Roald Dahl's memoir of his work in East Africa and his service in the RAF, covers the buildup to World War 2 and his involvement in it. In the book mention is made of Suez Canal. The Suez Canal plays a large role in the memoir as dahl says about The Suez Canal that "It can carry a paint-peeling tub of 9000 tons.
On November 17, 1869, the Suez Canal connecting the Mediterranean and Red Seas was officially opened in a lavish ceremony at Egypt’s Port Said (history). The canal took more than 15 years to plan and build, and its construction was repeatedly hindered by political disputes, labor shortages and even a deadly cholera outbreak. When finally completed, the 101-mile-long waterway permanently transformed international shipping by allowing vessels to skip the long and treacherous transit around the southern tip of Africa.
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Yet, it was owned solely by French shareholders and the Egyptian ruler, Khedive Ismail Pasha. The two parties had come together in 1869, to form the Suez Canal Company (History). At that time there were several countries interested in buying the excess shares of the canal. The French were the most serious contenders, but Great Britain was able to secure the shares. This allowed England to maintain the commercial integrity of its empire for many years to come, particularly in South and Southeast Asia. Second, it established a balance of power on the canal that probably could not have been created if any other party would have bought