The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge
by David McCullough
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Book Summary Information
Author: David McCulloughEdition: Paperback
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 1983-01-12
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 562
Product features:
- Paperback with scene of the Brooklyn Bridge. 336 pages
Book Reviews of The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge
Book Review: This book makes the Brooklyn Bridge all the more alive...
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been fascinated by the Brooklyn Bridge ever since my art history professor talked about it's importance back in my first art history survey class in college - and having now moved to Brooklyn I appreciate it all the more. In fact, it was in the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge this past March of 2005 that I proposed to my wife - so the Brooklyn Bridge will always be an important memory for both of us.
David McCullough brings the Bridge alive in incredible ways throughout his book, showing the fierce power struggles in so many different realms of the society that ultimatly built the Brooklyn Bridge. The book spans every topic about the bridge that anyone could possible want, from the complex engineering used to bring the cassions down to the bottom of the East River to Emily Roebling's dynamic personality and her role in the building of the bridge.
There are so many things in this world that have truly fascinating histories, but sadly history is often made out to be boring. McCullough is to be commended for how interesting he makes every detail of the bridge, from the begining to the end of the book. Having read this book, I'll never see the bridge quite the same way - like the book cover says.
Summary of The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge
This monumental book is the enthralling story of one of the greatest events in our nation's history, during the Age of Optimism -- a period when Americans were convinced in their hearts that all things were possible.In the years around 1870, when the project was first undertaken, the concept of building an unprecedented bridge to span the East River between the great cities of Manhattan and Brooklyn required a vision and determination comparable to that which went into the building of the great cathedrals. Throughout the fourteen years of its construction, the odds against the successful completion of the bridge seemed staggering. Bodies were crushed and broken, lives lost, political empires fell, and surges of public emotion constantly threatened the project. But this is not merely the saga of an engineering miracle; it is a sweeping narrative of the social climate of the time and of the heroes and rascals who had a hand in either constructing or exploiting the surpassing enterprise.
In the 19th century, the Brooklyn Bridge was viewed as the greatest engineering feat of mankind. The Roeblings--father and son--toiled for decades, fighting competitors, corrupt politicians, and the laws of nature to fabricate a bridge which, after 100 years, still provides one of the major avenues of access to one of the world's busiest cities--as compared to many bridges built at the same time which collapsed within decades or even years. It is refreshing to read such a magnificent story of real architecture and engineering in an era where these words refer to tiny bits and bytes that inspire awe only in their abstract consequences, and not in their tangible physical magnificence.
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