The Great Bridge

The Great Bridge PDF Author: David McCullough
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0743217373
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 654

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Book Description
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."

The Great Bridge

The Great Bridge PDF Author: David McCullough
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0743217373
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 654

Get Book Here

Book Description
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."

Engineers of Dreams

Engineers of Dreams PDF Author: Henry Petroski
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307773132
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 496

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Book Description
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

The Death and Life of the Great Lakes

The Death and Life of the Great Lakes PDF Author: Dan Egan
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393246442
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
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.

David McCullough Great Moments in History E-book Box Set

David McCullough Great Moments in History E-book Box Set PDF Author: David McCullough
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451658230
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 2004

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Book Description
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 ebook box set includes the following McCullough classics: 1776 is 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 is 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 is 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 is 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. A special bonus is included: 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.

Brooklyn Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge PDF Author: Alan Trachtenberg
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226811158
Category : Photography
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
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

The Great Cooper River Bridge

The Great Cooper River Bridge PDF Author: Jason Annan
Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press
ISBN: 9781570034701
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
The Cooper River Bridge opened in 1929, and for the first time connected Charleston directly to the north. This volume is a complete history of the bridge, exploring how early 20th-century Charleston helped shape the bridge, and how the bridge subsequently shaped the city.

The New York Times Bridge Book

The New York Times Bridge Book PDF Author: Alan Truscott
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780312331078
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
A guide to the popular card game includes anecdotes about great players, major tournaments, scandals, and strategies that make bridge so legendary.

The Great East River Bridge, 1883-1983

The Great East River Bridge, 1883-1983 PDF Author: Brooklyn Museum
Publisher: ABRAMS
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description


The Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge PDF Author: Elizabeth Mann
Publisher: Mikaya Press
ISBN: 0965049302
Category : Bridges
Languages : en
Pages : 60

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Book Description
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.

Chief Engineer

Chief Engineer PDF Author: Erica Wagner
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1620400537
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
“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.