Rating: 
Summary: Poignant reading
Review: Following the Sept 11th tragedy, this was a 2001 reprint of the book originally published in 1999. Reading it provides a dimension lost to many people; for instance, do you know who owns and built the WTC complex? (The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey); were the towers embraced readily by New Yorkers? (no, in fact, Empire State Building did everything it could to stop the towers from being constructed and thus maintain its position as the tallest point in NYC; various environment organizations challenged the creation of the towers on grounds ranging from harming the flight path of migratory birds to equating the towers with industrial blight). Do you also know that the excavated earth from the WTC site created Battery Park? Time and certain humanizing events -- the climbing of the towers by a French BASE'ist, parachuting off the observation deck by some daredevil, the filiming of King Kong -- endeared the towers to the general public. Their iconic status in the consience of America abruptly came to an end on September 11th, 2001. If you do get a chance, pick up this book and read beyond the engineering marvel that these towers were. Read about the human drama, the aspirations of a few hard men, and the tough battle these towers fought for their supremacy of the NY skyline.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing; informational, but not overly so
Review: I am really quite disappointed in this book. I thought it would have much more detailed engineering analyses of the construction, and definitely thought it would be full of pictures. Unfortunately, it has neither. The diagrams and images it does have are not worth very much. For those who never had the chance to visit the towers, or those who want a quicky, condensed light history, you can go for this book. I hesitate to recommend it, though, because of the lack of information that you really shuold have. For those of have visited, and those of us who worked in it or near it, you will realize that this book is not a proper memory or record. It lacks engineering information, and it also lacks much of the history that is essential knowledge. It has some of the political stuff that went on, but doesn't do justice to the political wrangling, the economic wrangling, the fights between citizens and architects, and the fights between the tower architects and other architects. New York City is a colorfully political place, with incredibly volatile dialogue between corporate America, the politicians, the construction mob bosses, artists, liberals, conservatives, you name it. The building of these towers brought all these people out to speak against and for, and unfortunately, this book completely misses the whole "New Yorkness" of the dialogue/debate about constructing the towers. The author writes about it in a way that leaves the reader not really knowing New York City. The building of the Towers could have taken place in any other city, for all the sense of location the author imbues into the story. It's very sad.I hate to rag on a book, but I found this so unappealing after reading it, because of the lack of pictures, lack of detail, and lack of history, that I cannot recommend it. I still give it two stars, because even though it isn't as well done as it should have been, at least it is factual in the story that is presented. It's incomplete, but it is true.
Rating:
Summary: Needed some photos to make it Complete
Review: I don't know what the authors were thinking, but to write a book like this, which will no doubt be in HUGE demand now, and not put photographs inside, is clearly not wise. If it were not for the awesome cover shot of these steel phantoms, we would not have even a glimpse inside of the beauty that once was before September 11, 2001. Having lived in New York City all my life, I witnessed these towers crumble, and I can't get my hands on enough stuff even remotely related to them, this is why I ordered this book. However, this is wonderful to read -- not to look through. Informative and well written, it certainly includes thorough coverage.
Rating: 
Summary: VERY DISAPPOINTING
Review: I expected a wonderfully illustrated book with great photography, but was very disappointed when the book arrived. Not only was it dull, the paper quality was poor. The amateurish illustrations were a joke. This is really not something to buy if you want some sort of visual reminder of the Towers or to commerate the horrific events on September 11.
Rating:
Summary: The Life of NYC's World Trade Center
Review: I picked up this book after the attacks of September 11th to find out more about the buildings that I had often seen in the distance, but had never known much about. I had never been in the World Trade Center, never visited the observation deck, nor eaten at Windows on the World. I found this book very helpful in providing much information about who built it, and how. It also gives a good perspective on what it was like to work in the building. And it is with that perspective that I recommend this book to others. Not anticipating the sudden and tragic demise of the towers when it was written 1n 1999, the book celebrates the life of the World Trade Center. The last part focuses on the day-to-day lives of the people of the towers and can be especially hard to read after the staggering loss of life on the day the buildings collapsed. I don't think I could read this book right now if the towers were a part of my life before that tragic day. So for the many people for whom the World Trade Center before September 11th was just a recognizable part of the New York skyline, and are interested in learning more about it now that it has so suddenly and completely been destroyed, this is a good book to read. For those whose lives were tied to the buildings in some way, this book may be too close, like a letter from a battlefield soldier that arrives after his or her death. The book starts out with the background of the organization that planned and built the World Trade Center, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. This is a fascinating story in itself about the growth of a small interstate agency that started its life connecting New York and New Jersey with bridges and tunnels and went on to build the tallest and largest buildings in the area. The author goes on to tell how the Port Authority devised the project, chose an architect, fought all the criticism, and persevered to build the two tallest buildings in the world at that time. Conceived in the early 1960s, started in 1966, with opening ceremonies in 1973, the World Trade Center was built in a period of great political unrest when many social values were being reexamined. The buildings were subject to a lot of criticism as the values of society were being called into question. The author tells the story of how the architectural world reacted to the towers, but also how the people came to accept the towers as a symbol of New York. The book is illustrated by seven charcoal drawings by Becky Glyn and by illustrations provided by the Port Authority. Ms. Glyn's drawings are simple and expressive at the same time, but only two are of the World Trade Center towers, and all are reduced to a small 2"x3" format. More illustrative are the stock illustrations the Port Authority provided the author, including the great photo that graces the dust cover. There is a good index and good footnotes. The sources in the footnotes show that there was a lot of research behind the book, including many interviews with the people involved. Many books full of glossy color photos about the World Trade Center will come out after September 11, 2001, but this is the book about the life of New York City's World Trade Center. In that sense, it is a fitting memorial to those who lost their lives in the WTC that tragic day.
Rating:
Summary: 2-star coffee table book becomes 4-star window into history
Review: Let's be honest. If September 11, 2001 doesn't happen, this is a two-dollar steal at a Kiwanis Club book sale. But now, Mr. Gillespie has given us a nicely written obituary of a monument to urban America. Pre-9/11, I wouldn't have given this book a second look. Now, I'd recommend it as a necessary part of any person's library.
Rating: 
Summary: Good book
Review: This book describes what went into the desigin, planning and construction of the World Trade Centers. If you like to find out what goes on behind the sceens to make things happen, get this book and remenber a great land mark.
Rating:
Summary: The Complete History of a Tragedy that was bound to happen
Review: This book gives a inside view of the birth and the death of the World Trade Center. It shows how the rush to construct this late edifice led to many defects that were exposed on 9-11-01.
Rating:
Summary: History of the Twin Towers
Review: This book was written in 1999 as pressure was mounting for the Port Authority to turn the WTC over to a private agency. The book was reissued shortly after September 11 as the only scholarly history of the WTC. It's a fascinating study of political pressures and engineering feats. It's impossible to discuss the World Trade Center Towers without first understanding the New York/New Jersey Port Authority. Conceptually, it was unique when it was created in 1921. Authorities - quasi-governmental agencies that were authorized to build projects and then levy user fees to pay for them - had a long and well-established history in England. What made this new authority unique in 1921, when it was created to build the Holland Tunnel, was that it was granted a charter to build facilities, i.e., multiple projects. The idea for the WTC was conceived during a period of relentless optimism [Kenney] but "completed during a period of national gloom and retreat [Vietnam, 1970's, and Nixon's collapse.]" There were political aspects, aside from the desire to build the world's tallest building, and there was always the pressure from New Jersey to reduce bridge and tunnel tolls. A new project that would use these surplus funds would help to relieve that pressure. It was a project that was lauded by the critics at first, then reviled, only to be resurrected in the minds of New Yorkers, but never as an architectural triumph. It had the misfortune to fall between two architectural periods: International Style, with massive amounts of glass, and Postmodern, which represented a return to the more colorful and decorative building facades. Its Japanese architect, Minoru Yamasaki, used unique aluminum curtain walls that had been dyed to reflect light in unusual ways. The floor-to-ceiling windows were smaller, about the width of a large man, and set back from the curtain. This reduced heating and cooling expenses and eliminated the sense of vertigo that plagued other skyscrapers that had office space right up to the edge of the window, a more floor-efficient design. Yamasaki went through eighty iterations of the design, sometimes using three or four towers, but eventually settling on two. The spacing between them became critical because if placed too close together the winds sweeping down could create sympathetic vibrations in the buildings, destroying their integrity, i.e., a euphemism for causing them to fall down. The engineering was incredible, and the building could not have been built without technologies developed in other countries. The "Kangaroo" cranes that hoisted themselves up the elevator shafts were developed in Australia. Nothing like them was available in the United States. They were needed to raise the very heavy steel columns that were the load- bearing walls, another unique design feature of the buildings, and the floors. It was initially thought that only U.S. Steel or Bethlehem Steel, the two largest steel companies in the United States, would be able to supply the enormous quantity of steel needed - the drawings for the steel construction weighed over 650 pounds - and Andrew Tobin, the Port Authority's director, thought that by involving them early in the design stage he would get a reasonable bid from them. Not so, and Tobin was so angry with their overbidding, which bore suspicions of collusion - a later investigation revealed no evidence of that - that he contracted portions of the steel to smaller companies, thereby saving over 30% of the anticipated costs. Going to different companies and subcontracting and bidding for smaller lots was to become the industry standard because of the cost savings. Because the building was so close to the river and excavation for the huge buildings had to go deep down to hit bedrock (enough soil and material was excavated to create Battery Park, an eighteen-acre site that extended Manhattan Island an extra 700 feet into the river and creating additional real estate worth [$]), some method to keep the water out was needed that would not affect the adjacent structures. A slurry method imported from Italy permitted concrete and steel reinforcement for the huge "bathtub" that kept the water out. Slurry containing betonite clay was pumped in as the trenches were dug and then pumped out as concrete and rebar were placed to create the final walls. The effect of sway on humans had to be tested. The buildings had to be flexible; any degree of stiffness could be built in, but it could not be changed after the building was complete. At its top the Empire State Building sways three inches in a one hundred-mile-per-hour wind. Swaying rooms were built to test people's reactions. Psychologists found that people would tolerate up to eleven inches of slow sway. That represented winds of 140 miles per hour, wind speeds that had never occurred in New York. The building was designed to withstand much higher gusts than that. Wind can cause other problems. On a gusty day, the buildings twisted and moved so much that the freight elevators could not be used. They were the only elevators to go all the way to the top - all the others had shorter runs to assorted lobbies where commuters changed cars - and the 1350-foot cables would slap around too much. Everything had to be inspected daily. The elevators made 450,000 "movements" (one person on one trip) per day. The Port Authority has its own police force, and forty-two officers were assigned to the WTC buildings. It is a unique force in that the officers have bi-state authority, the only police force in the country to have such authority. In fact, their jurisdiction lies in a circle with a twenty-five mile radius from the Statue of Liberty. It's impossible to recount all the riveting (not a pun, since no rivets were used) details of the gargantuan buildings. It's a fascinating story of a building, and, aside from the enormous human tragedies of September 11, it was a great engineering loss as well.
Rating:
Summary: History of the Twin Towers
Review: This book was written in 1999 as pressure was mounting for the Port Authority to turn the WTC over to a private agency. The book was reissued shortly after September 11 as the only scholarly history of the WTC. It's a fascinating study of political pressures and engineering feats. It's impossible to discuss the World Trade Center Towers without first understanding the New York/New Jersey Port Authority. Conceptually, it was unique when it was created in 1921. Authorities - quasi-governmental agencies that were authorized to build projects and then levy user fees to pay for them - had a long and well-established history in England. What made this new authority unique in 1921, when it was created to build the Holland Tunnel, was that it was granted a charter to build facilities, i.e., multiple projects. The idea for the WTC was conceived during a period of relentless optimism [Kenney] but "completed during a period of national gloom and retreat [Vietnam, 1970's, and Nixon's collapse.]" There were political aspects, aside from the desire to build the world's tallest building, and there was always the pressure from New Jersey to reduce bridge and tunnel tolls. A new project that would use these surplus funds would help to relieve that pressure. It was a project that was lauded by the critics at first, then reviled, only to be resurrected in the minds of New Yorkers, but never as an architectural triumph. It had the misfortune to fall between two architectural periods: International Style, with massive amounts of glass, and Postmodern, which represented a return to the more colorful and decorative building facades. Its Japanese architect, Minoru Yamasaki, used unique aluminum curtain walls that had been dyed to reflect light in unusual ways. The floor-to-ceiling windows were smaller, about the width of a large man, and set back from the curtain. This reduced heating and cooling expenses and eliminated the sense of vertigo that plagued other skyscrapers that had office space right up to the edge of the window, a more floor-efficient design. Yamasaki went through eighty iterations of the design, sometimes using three or four towers, but eventually settling on two. The spacing between them became critical because if placed too close together the winds sweeping down could create sympathetic vibrations in the buildings, destroying their integrity, i.e., a euphemism for causing them to fall down. The engineering was incredible, and the building could not have been built without technologies developed in other countries. The "Kangaroo" cranes that hoisted themselves up the elevator shafts were developed in Australia. Nothing like them was available in the United States. They were needed to raise the very heavy steel columns that were the load- bearing walls, another unique design feature of the buildings, and the floors. It was initially thought that only U.S. Steel or Bethlehem Steel, the two largest steel companies in the United States, would be able to supply the enormous quantity of steel needed - the drawings for the steel construction weighed over 650 pounds - and Andrew Tobin, the Port Authority's director, thought that by involving them early in the design stage he would get a reasonable bid from them. Not so, and Tobin was so angry with their overbidding, which bore suspicions of collusion - a later investigation revealed no evidence of that - that he contracted portions of the steel to smaller companies, thereby saving over 30% of the anticipated costs. Going to different companies and subcontracting and bidding for smaller lots was to become the industry standard because of the cost savings. Because the building was so close to the river and excavation for the huge buildings had to go deep down to hit bedrock (enough soil and material was excavated to create Battery Park, an eighteen-acre site that extended Manhattan Island an extra 700 feet into the river and creating additional real estate worth [$]), some method to keep the water out was needed that would not affect the adjacent structures. A slurry method imported from Italy permitted concrete and steel reinforcement for the huge "bathtub" that kept the water out. Slurry containing betonite clay was pumped in as the trenches were dug and then pumped out as concrete and rebar were placed to create the final walls. The effect of sway on humans had to be tested. The buildings had to be flexible; any degree of stiffness could be built in, but it could not be changed after the building was complete. At its top the Empire State Building sways three inches in a one hundred-mile-per-hour wind. Swaying rooms were built to test people's reactions. Psychologists found that people would tolerate up to eleven inches of slow sway. That represented winds of 140 miles per hour, wind speeds that had never occurred in New York. The building was designed to withstand much higher gusts than that. Wind can cause other problems. On a gusty day, the buildings twisted and moved so much that the freight elevators could not be used. They were the only elevators to go all the way to the top - all the others had shorter runs to assorted lobbies where commuters changed cars - and the 1350-foot cables would slap around too much. Everything had to be inspected daily. The elevators made 450,000 "movements" (one person on one trip) per day. The Port Authority has its own police force, and forty-two officers were assigned to the WTC buildings. It is a unique force in that the officers have bi-state authority, the only police force in the country to have such authority. In fact, their jurisdiction lies in a circle with a twenty-five mile radius from the Statue of Liberty. It's impossible to recount all the riveting (not a pun, since no rivets were used) details of the gargantuan buildings. It's a fascinating story of a building, and, aside from the enormous human tragedies of September 11, it was a great engineering loss as well.
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