The Great Bridge : The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge

Rating:
Summary: Tough read
Review: Not just the building of the bridge but also the "behind-the-scene" machinations of the people overseeing the project. Both topics covered in plenty of detail. Would have liked to see some diagrams of the engineering. I had to pore over the writing describing air locks, pneumatic caissons, how the wire was strung etc. Think about how difficult it would be to describe (using words) the process of tieing one's shoes. But I slowed down, even to the extent of reading out loud, and I think I understood most of the engineering. Well worth the effort involved.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling
Review: This book is a somewhat long and slow in parts, but if you stick with it, it is very rewarding. Just about everything you would want to know about the bridge is here, written in sharp detail. My only complaint was that the focus of the story shifted a little too much to the political wranglings and corruption of the New York officials and then to the investigations of their wrongdoings. That got pretty dull. But, the rest of the book, with the thrilling account of the many complex problems of the actual construction, more than made up for it. This is the type of historical book that teaches you things that you never thought about and then you wonder why you never thought of them.