⋙ Libro Free The Great Bridge The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge David McCullough 9780743217378 Books

The Great Bridge The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge David McCullough 9780743217378 Books

Download As PDF : The Great Bridge The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge David McCullough 9780743217378 Books

The Great Bridge The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge David McCullough 9780743217378 Books

I mostly enjoyed this book, especially the first quarter and the last quarter. It is meticulously researched and as always, McCullough does a great job putting you in to the time period he is documenting.

In this case McCullough takes us back to 19th century New York City, comparing and contrasting Manhattan and Brooklyn. He explains the initial impetus for a bridge over the East River to connect the 2 cities, how it would affect the lifestyles and economies of both cities.

The book is covering an exciting time in America when large engineering projects were being accomplished which would lay an infrastructure which made the 20th century economy possible. He covers other bridge builders and their projects notably the Eads bridge over the Mississippi.

As a lot of people know the Roebling family sacrifices made the Brooklyn bridge possible. Mccullough
covers the life of German born Joeseph Roebling an educated engineer who emigrated to Pennsylvania and founded a community of Germans. After about a decade however Roebling went back into engineering and began a series of high profile suspension bridges, notably Roebling bridge in Cincinnati and a railroad bridge over the Niagara river.

When Roebling began work on the Brooklyn bridge his son was his main assistant – Washington Roebling. Unfortunately after his foot was injured in an on the job accident, Joeseph Roebling contracted gangrene and died. His son had to take over as the main engineer for the bridge and he accomplished it by using caissons to sink the foundation of the towers. At that time the medical issues associated with working in pressures greater than one atmosphere were not well understood. Washington Roebling basically sacrificed his life due to his becoming chronically ill from having worked in the caissons and suffering the bends repeatedly. He was bedridden for years, but still managed to manage the project from his home in Brooklyn.

There were some drawbacks to this book, mostly in the middle parts of it. I don't think that the book did a great job of describing the “how to” part of building the bridge. I had seen a special on the history channel on building the bridge. Without that I don't think the book would have made clear what was involved in the caissons and “spinning the wire” . Also the book gets a little bogged down in the politics behind building the bridge, the graft and corruption involved.

Overall though this was a good book to help you understand what went into building a great American landmark.


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The Great Bridge The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge David McCullough 9780743217378 Books Reviews

Having just read McCullough's far breezier "The Wright Brothers" and being at a year's distance from his wonderful book about John Adams, I had to make a few adjustments in my head to get into the rhythm and level of detail contained in "The Great Bridge." I often wonder how Mr. McCullough has the wherewithal to track down the seemingly endless details about his subject matter and then turn everything into a compelling story. Whatever his process, he succeeds magnificently in writing about the Brooklyn Bridge. Every politician, crook (is that redundant?), engineer, onlooker and more are woven together into a tale almost as expansive and astounding as the physical bridge itself. They didn't have electronic design tools back then but oh how people like John Roebling and his son Washington and Washington's wife Emily (come to think of it, were there any like them?) could envision a massive structure that would not only change the flow of commerce forever but create a lasting piece of mega-art. McCullough is a national treasure on a par with any of the grand subjects he trains his attention on. My only criticism is that given all the technical details provided, the reader would be better served by a fuller set of drawings of the bridge and its major components. A little too much is left to the reader to try to visualize. That said, the photos are wonderful and if one has the time to devote to absorbing as opposed to merely reading this book, it will pay off for a lifetime. As an aside, the last chapter ("The People's Day") and the epilogue are stunning, well worth on their own the price of the book and investment of the reader's time.
I absolutely liked this book. Took me two years to read it. I have it on my . I could underline what was interesting and look up words. Look people up. Totally fantastic. One of my favorite books. I even went to the library and checked out the hard copy to see the pictures. Lot's of footnotes. You won't regret reading this book. I put book down a few times to read other books. I even checked books about the Roblings, Boss Tweed, and then some including the Presidents when the bridge was built. or other political figures back then. I figured my great great grandfather John probably worked on the bridge at one time or other. My family is from NYC. I have walked over this bridge.
Do not buy the edition! Like others have stated, this book has lengthy, detailed descriptions that are hard to follow even by those with engineering experience. I believe the paper version has diagrams that may bump this book up to a 4-star rating for me. This was my first time reading a David McCullough book, and I appreciated the history of the bridge's construction which was clearly thoroughly researched. I could have done with a little less about the political and social history that was only loosely related to the building of the bridge. Those long, droning chapters could have easily been condensed and made the book much more focused and easier to get through. Overall, an OK read.
I mostly enjoyed this book, especially the first quarter and the last quarter. It is meticulously researched and as always, McCullough does a great job putting you in to the time period he is documenting.

In this case McCullough takes us back to 19th century New York City, comparing and contrasting Manhattan and Brooklyn. He explains the initial impetus for a bridge over the East River to connect the 2 cities, how it would affect the lifestyles and economies of both cities.

The book is covering an exciting time in America when large engineering projects were being accomplished which would lay an infrastructure which made the 20th century economy possible. He covers other bridge builders and their projects notably the Eads bridge over the Mississippi.

As a lot of people know the Roebling family sacrifices made the Brooklyn bridge possible. Mccullough
covers the life of German born Joeseph Roebling an educated engineer who emigrated to Pennsylvania and founded a community of Germans. After about a decade however Roebling went back into engineering and began a series of high profile suspension bridges, notably Roebling bridge in Cincinnati and a railroad bridge over the Niagara river.

When Roebling began work on the Brooklyn bridge his son was his main assistant – Washington Roebling. Unfortunately after his foot was injured in an on the job accident, Joeseph Roebling contracted gangrene and died. His son had to take over as the main engineer for the bridge and he accomplished it by using caissons to sink the foundation of the towers. At that time the medical issues associated with working in pressures greater than one atmosphere were not well understood. Washington Roebling basically sacrificed his life due to his becoming chronically ill from having worked in the caissons and suffering the bends repeatedly. He was bedridden for years, but still managed to manage the project from his home in Brooklyn.

There were some drawbacks to this book, mostly in the middle parts of it. I don't think that the book did a great job of describing the “how to” part of building the bridge. I had seen a special on the history channel on building the bridge. Without that I don't think the book would have made clear what was involved in the caissons and “spinning the wire” . Also the book gets a little bogged down in the politics behind building the bridge, the graft and corruption involved.

Overall though this was a good book to help you understand what went into building a great American landmark.