The Great Bridge

Author : David McCullough
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 0743217373
Total Pages : 654 pages
Book Rating : 4.78/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Great Bridge written by David McCullough and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2001-06 with total page 654 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1972, The Great Bridge is the classic account of one of the greatest engineering feats of all time. Winning acclaim for its comprehensive look at the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, this book helped cement David McCullough's reputation as America's preeminent social historian. Now, The Great Bridge is reissued as a Simon & Schuster Classic Edition with a new introduction by the author. This monumental book brings back for American readers the heroic vision of the America we once had. It 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 great things were possible. In the years around 1870, when the project was first undertaken, the concept of building a great 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 pyramids. 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 obstructing the great enterprise. Amid the flood of praise for the book when it was originally published, Newsday said succinctly "This is the definitive book on the event. Do not wait for a better try: there won't be any."

Author : Henry Petroski
Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 0307773132
Total Pages : 715 pages
Book Rating : 4.35/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Engineers of Dreams written by Henry Petroski and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2010-12-15 with total page 715 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Petroski reveals the science and engineering--not to mention the politics, egotism, and sheer magic--behind America's great bridges, particularly those constructed during the great bridge-building era starting in the 1870s and continuing through the 1930s. It is the story of the men and women who built the St. Louis, the George Washington, and the Golden Gate bridges, drawing not only on their mastery of numbers but on their gifts for persuasion and self-promotion. It is an account of triumphs and ignominious disasters (including the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which literally twisted itself apart in a high wind). And throughout this grandly engaging book, Petroski lets us see how bridges became the "symbols and souls" of our civilization, as well as testaments to their builders' vision, ingenuity, and perseverance. "Seamlessly linked...With astonishing scope and generosity of view, Mr. Petroski places the tradition of American bridge-building in perspective."--New York Times Book Review

Author : Dan Egan
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN 13 : 0393246442
Total Pages : 384 pages
Book Rating : 4.45/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Death and Life of the Great Lakes written by Dan Egan and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2017-03-07 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York Times Bestseller Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner of the J. Anthony Lukas Award "Nimbly splices together history, science, reporting and personal experiences into a taut and cautiously hopeful narrative.… Egan’s book is bursting with life (and yes, death)." —Robert Moor, New York Times Book Review The Great Lakes—Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, and Superior—hold 20 percent of the world’s supply of surface fresh water and provide sustenance, work, and recreation for tens of millions of Americans. But they are under threat as never before, and their problems are spreading across the continent. The Death and Life of the Great Lakes is prize-winning reporter Dan Egan’s compulsively readable portrait of an ecological catastrophe happening right before our eyes, blending the epic story of the lakes with an examination of the perils they face and the ways we can restore and preserve them for generations to come.

Author : Alan Trachtenberg
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226811158
Total Pages : 225 pages
Book Rating : 4.54/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Brooklyn Bridge written by Alan Trachtenberg and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1979-07-15 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fourteen of Walker Evans's evocative photographs of Brooklyn Bridge, most of which have never been published, appear in this edition of Alan Trachenberg's Brooklyn Bridge: Fact and Symbol. In the new afterword Trachenberg explores the history of Hart Crane's The Bridge, especially the poem's integral relationship with the powerful photography of Evans. "[Brooklyn Bridge] is familiar in so many movies, in so many stage sets and, as Mr. Trachtenberg shows in this brilliant . . . book, it is at least as much a symbol as a reality. . . . Mr. Trachtenberg is always exciting and illuminating."—Times Literary Supplement "The book is a skillful and insightful synthesis of materials about Brooklyn Bridge from such diverse fields as history, engineering, literature and art. Essentially it asks the question of why Brooklyn Bridge achieved such great impact on the nineteenth century American imagination and why it has continued to have a significant impact on twentieth century art and literature. In addition to its exploration of the bridge's symbolic significance, which includes perceptive analyses of such particular works as Hart Crane's great poem cycle and the paintings of artists like Joseph Stella, the book also includes a solidly researched account of the conception, planning and construction of the bridge. Trachtenberg's account of the intellectual and cultural sources of the bridge is particularly fascinating in its demonstration of the convergence of many different philosophical and ideological currents of the time around this great engineering enterprise, illustrating as effectively as any discussion I know the complex interplay of ideas and material culture."—John G. Cawelti, University of Chicago "Alan Trachtenberg's Brooklyn Bridge is a fascinating story, the philosophic genesis of the idea in Europe, John Roebling's heroic effort to translate it into masonry and steel, and the meanings that Americans attached to the physical object as an emblem of their aspirations."—Leo Marx, Amherst College, author of The Machine in the Garden

Author : Hildegarde Hoyt Swift
Publisher : Turtleback Books
ISBN 13 : 9780606299688
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.88/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge written by Hildegarde Hoyt Swift and published by Turtleback Books. This book was released on 2004-02-29 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A little lighthouse on the Hudson River regains its pride when it finds out that it is still useful and has an important job to do.

Author : Alan Truscott
Publisher : Macmillan
ISBN 13 : 9780312331078
Total Pages : 278 pages
Book Rating : 4.7X/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The New York Times Bridge Book written by Alan Truscott and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2004-08 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A guide to the popular card game includes anecdotes about great players, major tournaments, scandals, and strategies that make bridge so legendary.

Author : David McCullough
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1451658230
Total Pages : 2048 pages
Book Rating : 4.31/5 ( download)

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Download or read book David McCullough Great Moments in History E-book Box Set written by David McCullough and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2011-05-24 with total page 2048 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From New York Times bestselling author David McCullough, a special eBook boxed set features books that study key points of American history. The David McCullough Great Moments in History e-book box set includes the following McCullough classics: · 1776: The riveting story of George Washington, the men who marched with him, and their British foes in the momentous year of American independence. · The Johnstown Flood: The classic history of an American tragedy that became a scandal in the age of the Robber Barons, the preventable flood that destroyed a town and killed 2,000 people. · Path Between the Seas: The epic National Book Award-winning history of the heroic successes, tragic failures, and astonishing engineering and medical feats that made the Panama Canal possible. · The Great Bridge: The remarkable, enthralling story of the planning and construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, which linked two great cities and epitomized American optimism, skill, and determination. · Special Bonus: The Course of Human Events: In this Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities, David McCullough draws on his personal experience as a historian to acknowledge the crucial importance of writing in history’s enduring impact and influence, and he affirms the significance of history in teaching us about human nature through the ages.

Author : Elizabeth Mann
Publisher : Mikaya Press
ISBN 13 : 0965049302
Total Pages : 60 pages
Book Rating : 4.06/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Brooklyn Bridge written by Elizabeth Mann and published by Mikaya Press. This book was released on 1996 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, from its conception by John Roebling in 1852 through, after many setbacks, its final completion under the direction of his son, Washington, in 1883.

Author : Erica Wagner
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 1620400537
Total Pages : 385 pages
Book Rating : 4.31/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Chief Engineer written by Erica Wagner and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2017-06-27 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A welcome tribute to the persistence, precision and humanity of Washington Roebling and a love-song for the mighty New York bridge he built.” - The Wall Street Journal Chief Engineer is the first full biography of a crucial figure in the American story--Washington Roebling, builder of the Brooklyn Bridge. One of America's most iconic and recognizable structures, the Brooklyn Bridge is as much a part of New York as the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building. Yet its distinguished builder is too often forgotten--and his life is of interest far beyond his chosen field. It is the story of immigrants, the frontier, the Civil War, the making of the modern world, and a man whose life modeled courage in the face of extreme adversity. Chief Engineer is enriched by Roebling's own eloquent voice, unveiled in his recently discovered memoir, previously thought lost to history. The memoir reveals that his father, John-a renowned engineer who came to America after humble beginnings in Germany-was a tyrannical presence in Roebling's life. It also documents Roebling's time as a young man in the Union Army, where he built bridges to carry soldiers across rivers and fought in pivotal battles from Antietam to Gettysburg. He then married the remarkable Emily Warren Roebling, who played a crucial role in the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, Roebling's grandest achievement-but by no means the only one. Elegantly written with a compelling narrative sweep, Chief Engineer introduces Washington Roebling and his era to a new generation of readers.

Author : David McCullough
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1416576894
Total Pages : 578 pages
Book Rating : 4.91/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Greater Journey written by David McCullough and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2011-05-24 with total page 578 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The #1 bestseller that tells the remarkable story of the generations of American artists, writers, and doctors who traveled to Paris, fell in love with the city and its people, and changed America through what they learned, told by America’s master historian, David McCullough. Not all pioneers went west. In The Greater Journey, David McCullough tells the enthralling, inspiring—and until now, untold—story of the adventurous American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, and others who set off for Paris in the years between 1830 and 1900, hungry to learn and to excel in their work. What they achieved would profoundly alter American history. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female doctor in America, was one of this intrepid band. Another was Charles Sumner, whose encounters with black students at the Sorbonne inspired him to become the most powerful voice for abolition in the US Senate. Friends James Fenimore Cooper and Samuel F. B. Morse worked unrelentingly every day in Paris, Morse not only painting what would be his masterpiece, but also bringing home his momentous idea for the telegraph. Harriet Beecher Stowe traveled to Paris to escape the controversy generated by her book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Three of the greatest American artists ever—sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, painters Mary Cassatt and John Singer Sargent—flourished in Paris, inspired by French masters. Almost forgotten today, the heroic American ambassador Elihu Washburne bravely remained at his post through the Franco-Prussian War, the long Siege of Paris, and the nightmare of the Commune. His vivid diary account of the starvation and suffering endured by the people of Paris is published here for the first time. Telling their stories with power and intimacy, McCullough brings us into the lives of remarkable men and women who, in Saint-Gaudens’ phrase, longed “to soar into the blue.”