Rating: 
Summary: excellent book
Review: I saw the story of the Brooklyn Bridge on a PBS special so I had to read the book to learn the whole story. It is a very easy to read yet detailed account of how the bridge was built. I still have a hard time believing that something like this could have been built so long ago! It sets the tone of the time just right. A truly great book!
Rating:
Summary: Great Bridge, Great Book
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. McCullough's telling of the story is superb and breathtaking. He lays out the historical setting and technical details of bridge-building in a manner that immediately captures your interest and doesn't let go. Seemingly every page is replete with fascinating facts and tidbits ranging from the secret construction of the first New York subway system to the incredible spectacle of the general public strolling on the unfinished bridge's catwalk high above the East River.At the heart of the story of course are the Roeblings, and McCullough's narrative of their history and accomplishments, starting with visionary builder John Sr. through son Washington who supervises the project after his father's death, is truly inspiring, heartfelt and tragic, given the heavy price that the bridge project exacted from them. This family truly earned its place among the giants of engineering and construction. I highly recommend this book for anyone remotely interested in bridge-building, 19th century U.S. history or for anybody who just enjoys a fantastic but true story.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible non-fiction that reads & fascinates like fiction.
Review: I was first introduced to this book in 1985 and have, in the intervening 13 years, read it four times and given it as a gift in another dozen instances. McCullough does a superlative job weaving the social, political, and economic fibers of the times into a rich tapestry which seizes your attention and holds it for its more than 500 pages. He brings to life the famous, infamous, and little known rogues, ruffians, and heroes of that long past era when the Roeblings designed and built the bridge, Boss Tweed ran Tammany Hall, and Thomas Nast helped non-English speaking immigrants understand Tweed and company's sins. This book will, as it has with me, make you a lifelong, devoted McCullough advocate. Even though he won a Pulitzer for his Truman biography, "The Great Bridge" is his finest hour!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Not as gripping as "The Path between the seas" but very good
Review: I was so impressed with "The path between the Seas" that I went up to Panama to take a look. I also took this book with me to read on the trip. I have to say it did not hold my attention in quite the same way but a fascinating read for all that and I intend to pursue further reading from McCullough.
Rating: 
Summary: wonderful story
Review: I've have spent the last 21 years in the constuction trade , as a carpenter working my way up to a superintendent.I have worked on every thing from your basic home , to high rises in San Francisco and L.A. This book (along with McCullough's book on the Panama Canal)have to be the most enjoyable and engrossing consturction books I have ever read. In fact David McCullough has renewed my flagging interest in my own trade, the story's are very colorful, it's not hard to feel as if you are there.A great read,don't pass it up!
Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre Execution of a Compelling Subject
Review: If you don't mind mediocre writing or the absence of scholarship, you might consider reading McCullough's book on the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. McCullough appropriately recognized the inherently interesting nature of the Bridge's story, and in many places, he does an excellent job helping the reader visualize the complicated process of erecting this American monument. In the process, McCullough also essentially omits any attempt to maintain at least a minimum of scholarly decorum. A good example occurs early in the book: describing one of the directors of the Bridge Company, McCullough states "Smith was a Republican, a bank president, and a dear friend of Boss Tweed's, who had made Smith Police Commissioner." When I read that, I thought "Hmmm. I wonder what the authority for that rather bold statement is? I mean everyone understands that Tweed had power at Tammany Hall and ran much of the municipal show, but how does McCullough know that Smith specifically had been put in place by Tweed?" When I looked for a citation in McCullough's notes section I found nothing -- no citations or footnotes for ANY statement on that page (p. 128 of the paperback version) nor for page 129. How does a legitimate historian go for two pages describing the critical actions of Boss Tweed in connecting himself to the bridge without any citation to the historical record? Answer: he doesn't. At the end of the day, I just gave it three stars. I don't find the book a bad one, but I wouldn't recommend it either; it just seems to occupy that middle realm of good ideas poorly executed.
Rating:
Summary: One of My All-Time Favorites
Review: If you have read McCullough, this is as good as anything he's ever written. If not, this is a great place to start.
The Great Bridge tells the story of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. As McCullough always does, he starts with a story about people, in this case, the Roebling's who designed and built the bridge. Into that story McCullough seamlessly weaves a portrait of life and politics in New York in the 1870s and 1880s and the engineering and construction of the Brooklyn Bridge.
It is a completely readable story that leaves you with a real appreciation for what it was like to live at a time when everything seemed to be changing and it felt like man and technology could conquer all.
A great read.
Rating:
Summary: Overall great book on the building of a landmark!
Review: If you've even been to the Brooklyn Bridge and stared with awe, this book is definately for you! And if you've never been there, it'll make you want to go! McCullough is one of the greatest historians of our time and he does a good job of showing how much time, money, graft, corruption, and human lives went into the building of this bridge. McCullough interweaves tales from New York and Brooklyn to make the reader understand the people and the times that went into and affected its construction. The only drawback is sometimes these interweaved tales sometimes seem to disrupt the flow of the story. These are however, quite informative and interesting in themselves. So if you can deal with a distrupted timeline and the girth of the book, you are in for a really good read!
Rating:
Summary: "...and yet the bridge is beautiful..."
Review: In this day and age, what the name David McCullough means to part-time history buffs and amatuer historians (like myself) is excellence in writing, research and comprehensiveness. This reputation was undoudbtedly built based on classics like "The Great Bridge", written in 1972. Herein, the reader is exposed to spectactular writing and research that not only covers the planning and building of the Brooklyn Bridge, but indeed a history of the Gilded Age in New York city. With an enlightening style and insight that exceeds most other histories, McCullough defines "readable history" and in the process produces a classic that has and will continue to be the apex of literary history. And what a story it is! Following the Civil War, master bridge builder John Roebling decides that a great suspension bridge between Brooklyn and New York city (present day Manhattan) is not only needed, but would continue his reputation as bridge builder par-excellance. His son, Civil War General Washington Roebling (notable at Gettysburg and Petersburg) becomes Chief Engineer when his father tragically dies during the initial stages of construction on the bridge and proceeds to project an aura of moral integrity and spiritual "high-ground" that sets the tone for the subsequent 14 years that it took to complete this masterpiece. McCullough's account documents this and goes on to explain the initial planning and technical issues of such a massive project. The theory of suspension bridges and all the engineering technicalities is succinctly described by McCullough and this base understanding is what the rest of the story is based on (wires/cable hung form two large towers is the base format). The construction of the (2) towers is eloquently descibed at the sinking of the timber caissons (large "rooms" made of timber that the stone towers were to be built upon) and the subsequent details of working within them. Frustration abounds as the the Brooklyn side tower caisson goes slower than planned and McCullough describes the technical problems along with an amazingingly comprehensive discussion of the "mysterious maladay", ultimately known as the "bends". Worker-level stories surface here to give immediacy to the story and McCullough is masterful at describing them. The cable construction and subsequent controversey surrounding the contract and testing of the steel/iron would be boring to most readers, but McCullough makes this an intriguing part of the story. The political side of the bridge construction is not given short-shrift either as McCullough deftly descibes New York city Gilded era politics and specifically discloses the rise and fall of the "Boss Tweed Ring" and Tammany politics in general. This side of the bridge story, McCullough states, is as important to the final product as the engineering and construction...again, he makes this exceedingly readable while extolling it's importance to the story. Commitee upon commitee are formed to decide on both the technical and personal issues associated with project completion and here is where the controversy surrounding Washington Roebling's health (he was an unfortunate victim of the bends among other things) and mental capacity are manifested upon the completion...McCullough is again masterful at integrating this major poltitcal milestone with the story. The last few chapters are dedicated to describing completion and subsequent public reaction to the bridge and McCullough is superb at depicting late 19th century life in New York. The celebration on May 20th 1883 is a grand one and is placed in perspective in the last paragraph of the book: "In another time and in what would seem another world, on a day when two young men were walking on the moon, a very old woman on Long Island would tell reporters that the public excitement over the feat was not so much compared to what she had seen 'on the day they opened the Brooklyn Bridge' " Having walked and driven over the bridge many times, and having derived the name for my daughter from it, I can say that I have a somewhat personal stake and appeal in it. I also can say that I never gave a second thought about it's construction or the fascinating story that went into building it when I walked and drove it, until now. My compliments to David McCullough for giving us a marvelous story and book and giving those of us who've taken the bridge for granted a new perspective. I can't wait to go back and view it with this new knowledge of it's consruction and I'd wager that this is David McCullough's greatest gift...I give this work my highest recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: My Bridge
Review: It is hard for me to be objective about this book. First off, I am a great admirer of David McCullough's histories. Second, I have published two novels which are set in New York during the mid-19th Century. But what probably makes it hardest for me to be objective is that I have walked over that bridge for my own personal pleasure so many times over the decades that I consider it an old friend. It's my bridge. Having said all that, I can say that Mr. McCullough has written a history that is not only about a bridge and its builders, which are fascinating subjects in their own right, but it is also about what New Yorkers were thinking back then. This was still a horizontal world; the era of early skyscrapers was a few decades away. Because of this and the rapid growth in population after the Civil War, Manhattan was mostrously choked by block after block of four- and five-story tenements, warehouses and factories. The need for a reliable means to get to the vast open spaces of Brooklyn was urgent. Ironically, however, it wasn't the horizontal--the length of the bridge--which stunned the witnesses to the construction. Instead they marvelled at the height of the towers and the height of the roadway over the East River. Not as ironic, however, were the people who didn't marvel at the bridge's beauty and the strength of its construction. They were too busy licking their lips, wringing their hands and wondering how much of the bridge's budget would make its way into their wallets. The elements of corruption, then as now, always lurked near a great public work in New York. McCullough covers this tainted side just as carefully as he reports on the glory of the growth of the bridge. Heroes (the Roeblings) and villains (Tweed & Co.) abound, while New York's most beautiful and efficient structure comes to life. I've been as honest as possible. I recommend this book highly to anyone with an interest in engineering, New York history, or just a good story with great characters. Rocco Dormarunno
Instructor, College of New Rochelle
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