I drive over it every day to work and know that it's the most beautiful bridge in the world, but I had no idea of the labor, engineering innovation, political dealmaking, and family drama involved in building it until I read this terrific book. McCullough is at his best describing the Roeblings, the father and son engineering team who pioneered the use of steel cable in suspension bridges, and stewarded the Brooklyn Bridge through to completion. He also gives a vivid picture of the harrowing work done by the "sandhogs" who had to dig the underwater foundation of the bridge's towers. But McCullough, who knows and writes about American history as well as anyone alive, is surprisingly slightly less good when it comes to discussing the political back and forth between the Tweed ring and the New York state Republicans who originally sponsored the project. On the whole though, this is a great read. I highly recommend it.

Why is the most effective of all of McCullough's books? He leaves out all those boring and hard to follow quotes and TELLS the story that he is so effective at doing. Yes, it still has more facts than most people would desire, but this being my third book about The Bridge, I can honestly say, I could have saved a lot of time had I just read this one.

McCullough's approach is a little different than most when telling this compelling story. He focuses on the people, backroom deals and the political climate of the times that were almost as difficult as the struggle and torture on those getting the Bridge built.

Many facts about Brooklyn are revealed that I learned about from this book.

This my fourth McCullough book, and in my opinion, by far his best and truly the only one I can recommend without criticism. I loved it.

The Great Bridge is a great read, revealing the details of the conception, planning and construction of the Bridge. Highly recommended.

McCullough's history of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge's subtitle "The Epic Story" is right on when describing the well researched history of the bridge. The story notes both the historic technology challenge the bridge represented in the early 1800's, as well as the human story of an entire family, the Roeblings' committed to its completion. Well worth the read!

I sent for this book for myself. While reading it I realized that a particular friend would really enjoy this book.
I ordered it and he had it in his house in perfect condition and very quickly.
The book is a real testament to the ingenuity and determination of men.

Very easy to read. You feel as if you are having a personnel discussion with David McCullough.

David McCullough ranks second to none in his tireless historical research, his ability to ferret facts and details, and his skill at weaving both together in a skein with fine writing. The sheer density of the material on the printed page is impressive. That it never palls is even more so.

THE GREAT BRIDGE is McCullough's exhaustive history of the conception, creation and completion of the Brooklyn Bridge, a task that took the full intellectual capacities and the lives of two men, a father and son named Roebling, over a period of fourteen years.

The Brooklyn Bridge was born in the shadow of the Civil War and grew slowly and organically as the nation did, during the Gilded Age. McCullough's ability to evoke the era of gaslight New York, with its mansions and slums, its immigrants and its robber barons, its ideals of human progress and its shoddy realities of machine politics, is nonpareil.

Across the river is Brooklyn---sprawling, rapidly expanding Brooklyn, the third largest city in America at the time, more sedate and in its own way, more of a boomtown than New York, a city whose port handled more freight and whose lanes held more manufacturies than than the city on Manhattan Island. There were over a thousand ferry crossings per day between the two cities (even with the bridge the ferries ran until 1942), and although in retrospect it seems inevitable that the two cities should have merged (which they did by a small margin of votes in 1898, to the everlasting chagrin of some Brooklynites), while the bridge was building nobody entertained any such ideas.

McCullough, not a civil engineer, wrestles with the technical aspects of bridge building fairly well, trying with reasonable success to put the technojargon of caissons, towers, load factors, wire gauge and the like, into plain English.

THE GREAT BRIDGE is more than just a layman's manual on bridge-building, it is a social history of America at the end of the Nineteenth Century, an era when a feeling of confidence and progress motivated most Americans. Despite innumerable delays, political infighting, personality clashes, social upheaval, backlash from established quarters, charges of scandal, kickback, corruption, and fraud (at least one massive fraud is built into the fabric of the bridge, substandard steel wire rope, discovered too late to undo in full), nobody ever doubted that we could get it done. And so it was done. The bridge is now 125 years old.

McCullough waxes absolutely lyrical at times about the bridge. And in truth, it inspires poetry. The greatest suspension bridge of its era is not only a practical expression of utility, it is also a work of art. Its two supporting towers are of granite, not steel, and are formed like double gothic archways. The web of supporting cables is a form of abstract art against the sky. The Great Bridge was created at the precise moment is history when form and function were wedded to each other.

The matchmakers were the Roeblings, the father, John A. Roebling, a brilliant, severe, Germanic genius, a utopian thinker from whose mind the bridge could have sprung fully formed, like Athena from the head of Zeus. The elder Roebling was also the first fatality the bridge claimed, at which point the work was taken up by his son, Colonel Washington A. Roebling.

Less severe than his father, Colonel Roebling was to remain the Chief Engineer for the next decade and a half, although a vile attack of the bends brought on by caisson work, and a mysterious unnamed "nervous prostration" kept him a virtual bedridden recluse for ten of those years, watching construction proceed through a telescope from his house in Brooklyn Heights.

Roebling had every minute detail of the bridge and its construction fixed in his mind, but because of his physical agony, was reduced to dictating engineering instructions to his wife, Emily, such precise instructions that the army of Assistant Engineers completed the work to specification flawlessly in his total absence. It was widely thought at the time that Colonel Roebling was deranged or rendered an idiot in the parlance of the day (neither being the case), and that his wife was in fact directing the engineering work. Regardless of the facts of Roebling's illness, the bridge could not have been completed were it not for Emily Roebling, and McCullough never wavers in his admiration for Mrs. Roebling, who was clearly a brilliant intellect and dynamic personality in her own right.

Reading THE GREAT BRIDGE places the reader in a different era, a time when all things were possible. Whether you cross the bridge every day going to and from Brooklyn and Manhattan, or whether you reside in darkest Indiana and have never seen the bridge with your own eyes, McCullough's work will not only show you what there is to see but make you view the bridge in an entirely new light.

This is a fine history and many fine biographies all rolled together with an instruction manual

for building suspension bridges. We learn of the many forces influencing the project, the technical

problems, the commercial challenges, the political corruption and the problems caused by honest

politicans, professional jealosies, the long shadow of the civil war, religious scandals, cultural

fads, rapidly changing technology, the medical mystery of the bends, and on, and on.



It is a well told tale. It is factual and well documented. The only quibble I can make is an

occasional lapse into mind reading, "...Roebling must have felt..." Even these rare occasions are

usually followed by quotes from letters, journals, or reports that make the supposition reasonable.



I have not stopped strangers on the street to urge them to read this book, but it is tempting.



I listened to it, instead of turning pages. That format works well except in one tiny detail that

might not matter to most readers. There are many comparisons between budget and actual expenses,

between physical quantities used on this bridge or that bridge, and so on. The numbers are reported

as accurately as possible. That shows good scholarship, but makes it difficult to compare magnitudes.

This is a fine history and many fine biographies all rolled together with an instruction manual
for building suspension bridges. We learn of the many forces influencing the project, the technical
problems, the commercial challenges, the political corruption and the problems caused by honest
politicans, professional jealosies, the long shadow of the civil war, religious scandals, cultural
fads, rapidly changing technology, the medical mystery of the bends, and on, and on.

It is a well told tale. It is factual and well documented. The only quibble I can make is an
occasional lapse into mind reading, "...Roebling must have felt..." Even these rare occasions are
usually followed by quotes from letters, journals, or reports that make the supposition reasonable.

I have not stopped strangers on the street to urge them to read this book, but it is tempting.

I listened to it, instead of turning pages. That format works well except in one tiny detail that
might not matter to most readers. There are many comparisons between budget and actual expenses,
between physical quantities used on this bridge or that bridge, and so on. The numbers are reported
as accurately as possible. That shows good scholarship, but makes it difficult to compare magnitudes.

Through his long line of books on some of America's greatest figures (Truman, John Adams, Theodore Roosevelt) and historical events (Johnstown Flood, Panama Canal, Brooklyn Bridge), David McCollough has earned the title of America's greatest historian.

As in his previous works, McCollough masterfully crafts his prose around one of the most historically significant and interesting events of 19th century America, the design and construction of the Brookly Bridge. Prior to reading this book, I must admit to an almost complete lack of appreciation for this feat. Suffice it to say that in the mid to late 19th century, construction of a suspension bridge on the scale of the Brooklyn Bridge was almost a leap of faith during a time when many if not most bridges failed soon after construction.

This is largely a story about John A. Roebling and his son Washington Roebling, the former having initially designed and "sold" the bridge, the latter being left with the task of constructing the bridge following the gruesome death of his father from tetanus. Also a key player in the story is Washington Roebling's wife Emily, who many allege was actually in charge of the bridge project during the frequent periods of incapacity suffered by her husband.

The background on both Roeblings was very interesting and key to an understanding of the personal dynamics involved in the politics and administration of the bridge project, and some of the most enlightening segments of the work deal with the politics of the era and region (this period spanning the reign of "Boss" Tweed over Tammany Hall).

McCollough's best work, however, is taking the very complicated and cutting edge engineering principles of the time and explaining them through well crafted language and numerous sketches in such a way that most can be followed and understood (maybe not completely) by the reader. The novel concept of the caissons, by which the monstrous bridge piers were embedded into bedrock, and the resulting discovery of "the bends", was riveting reading.

All in all, a typical McCollough tour de force. As in many of his previous works, most similar in style to Panama Canal, McCollough takes a historically significant event, explains why it was so significant, points out the extreme difficulties faced by the participants and puts a human face on the travails and suffering endured by the key players. As in Panama Canal, politics plays a key role in this story.

If you're like me, most of the background to this story will be almost entirely new to you. Did you know that in 1880, Brooklyn was the third largest city in the United States (prior to its merger into New York City). I highly recommend this book, not just for its entertainment value, but for its great history lessons.

It is an excellent book. He went into great detail on it's construction in the first 2/3rds of the book all the way to the main support wires but then skipped over the rest of the work. But I liked it. Not his best, but excellent none the less. John Adams is his best book.

I had many questions regarding the 19th Century technology used to construct the much admired, iconic Brooklyn Bridge. David McCullough most ably answers them all, along with a detailed portrayal of the genius father and son team, John and Washington Roebling. Along the way, unfolds an insightful treatment of rival engineers, crooks, and politicians. Self-educated James Eads built a triple steel arch bridge across the Mississippi at St. Louis. William Marcy Tweed, the archetypal corrupt politician, along with confederates and challengers, were the movers and shakers of all public projects that took place in New York and Brooklyn.

John Roebling, a university educated engineer from Germany, developed a successful wire rope manufacturing business which he applied to the design and construction of numerous suspension bridges, among which were impressive bridges at Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Niagara Falls. These successes led to the acceptance of his bid for the Brooklyn Bridge contract. Washington, who led construction projects and built bridges for the Union Army, was his father's second in command.

In the early stages of mapping out the construction, John was injured in a freak accident which resulted in tetanus and his subsequent terrible death. At age thirty-two, Washington, with some misgivings by the bridge committee because of his youth, took over the project and quickly proved his capabilities by designing the two most massive caissons ever constructed. These were used for the foundations of the bridge's East River towers. Ironically, Washington was afflicted with caisson disease (now known as the bends) while fighting a fire in the Brooklyn caisson. This left him an invalid. Washington's most remarkable wife, Emily, quickly made herself knowledgeable in what needed to be done and became Washington's link to the on-site engineers as Washington watched the bridge's progress from a window in their home. At the time, there was speculation that the reclusive Washington was no longer rational and that Emily was the actual chief engineer.

The project took 14-years as it overcame innumerable problems, both technical and political. The Great Bridge opened in 1883 with heretofore unprecedented celebration. Washington later recovered from the bends, living until 1926 as he acquired considerable wealth from the manufacture of wire rope.

I had many questions regarding the 19th Century technology used to construct the much admired, iconic Brooklyn Bridge. David McCullough most ably answers them all, along with a detailed portrayal of the genius father and son team, John and Washington Roebling. Along the way, unfolds an insightful treatment of rival engineers, crooks, and politicians. Self-educated James Eads built a triple steel arch bridge across the Mississippi at St. Louis. William Marcy Tweed, the archetypal corrupt politician, along with confederates and challengers, were the movers and shakers of all public projects that took place in New York and Brooklyn.

John Roebling, a university educated engineer from Germany, developed a successful wire rope manufacturing business which he applied to the design and construction of numerous suspension bridges, among which were impressive bridges at Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Niagara Falls. These successes led to the acceptance of his bid for the Brooklyn Bridge contract. Washington, who led construction projects and built bridges for the Union Army, was his father's second in command.

In the early stages of mapping out the construction, John was injured in a freak accident which resulted in tetanus and his subsequent terrible death. At age thirty-two, Washington, with some misgivings by the bridge committee because of his youth, took over the project and quickly proved his capabilities by designing the two most massive caissons ever constructed. These were used for the foundations of the bridge's East River towers. Ironically, Washington was afflicted with caisson disease (now known as the bends) while fighting a fire in the Brooklyn caisson. This left him an invalid. Washington's most remarkable wife, Emily, quickly made herself knowledgeable in what needed to be done and became Washington's link to the on-site engineers as Washington watched the bridge's progress from a window in their home. At the time, there was speculation that the reclusive Washington was no longer rational and that Emily was the actual chief engineer.

The project took 14-years as it overcame innumerable problems, both technical and political. The Great Bridge opened in 1883 with heretofore unprecedented celebration. Washington later recovered from the bends, living until 1926 as he acquired considerable wealth from the manufacture of wire rope.

Don't mean to split hairs but previous latest review by Kerry Burns is factually incorrect. John Augustus Roebling was the father and Washington Roebling the son. Emily was the wife of John A. Roebling and one of the GREAT heroes of this magnificent book by the brilliant David McCullough. The Great Bridge is inspiring and uplifting to say the least. An epic triumph of design, engineering and construction genius. All the design,
engineering and construction genius would be for naught were it not for the incredible dedication of the Roeblings and so many others. Completed in 1881 the bridge is a monument to all the blood, sweat and tears that went into it. The book is a classic and a must read in this day when the recently completed BIG DIG in Boston ( at a cost of $15
billion ) is already an unmitigated DISASTER. The Great Bridge is a great read.

Don't mean to split hairs but previous latest review by Kerry Burns is factually incorrect. John Augustus Roebling was the father and Washington Roebling the son. Emily was the wife of John A. Roebling and one of the GREAT heroes of this magnificent book by the brilliant David McCullough. The Great Bridge is inspiring and uplifting to say the least. An epic triumph of design, engineering and construction genius. All the design,
engineering and construction genius would be for naught were it not for the incredible dedication of the Roeblings and so many others. Completed in 1881 the bridge is a monument to all the blood, sweat and tears that went into it. The book is a classic and a must read in this day when the recently completed BIG DIG in Boston ( at a cost of $15
billion ) is already an unmitigated DISASTER. The Great Bridge is a great read.

sorry, you can't but you can buy the riveting history behind the building of this magnificent architectural structure written by one of the finest historical writers of our generation. First of all, I love David McCullough's writing, his historical detail and vivid descriptive writing makes you feel as you were there watching the building of this amazing structure right before your very own eyes. They said it couldn't be done, a suspension bridge spanning from Brooklyn to Manhattan was impossible but all agreed ultimately necessary to allow for the growth of these two great cities(this was before the 5 boroughs were incorporated into NYC). How could this become such a fascinating story of political intrigue, romance, undeterred faith and American can-do spirit. Washington Roebling designed and spurred the building of the bridge, his wife Emily refused to let his dream die when he became too sick to carry on and his son John followed through with his father's plans to allow people to cross the East River and unite. It is a riveting story with larger then life characters and obstacles to overcome. I used to walk over the Broolyn Bridge numerous times during my NYC days just to marvel at this still amazing structure and it's incredible views but you don't need to be that close to the bridge to appreciate it's wonderous history just read this book.

I loved this book for many reasons. It had action, romance, history and science that even an amateur could follow. I've walked the Bridge many times and even stayed on Columbia Heights and never knew the history of the Bridge. I was amazed at all the famous and influential people who were mentioned in this book and how young they were when they were doing the amazing things that we all know them for. It really opened my eyes to a time period that fell somewhere between the Civil war and World WarI.

Granted, I am a McCullough devotee. I read whatever he writes but enjoy his work to different degress I must admit. This is at the top of my list. The implication of the Brooklyn Bridge is felt on so many different stages and the author graphically brings the curtain up on all of them. Beginning with the suspension bridge over the Ohio River in Cincinnati to the Golden Gate, the Brooklyn Bridge is part of an amazing array of stories. Roebling and Straus ...the two least known American heroes in history. Both strange and quirky. Who could guess that the story of an American landmark could contain so much texture. And I love that McCullough gives Emily Roebling such credit. Read the book, walk the span and I predict it will remain deep in your psyche.

David McCullough is one of the best authors in America and this effort is a fabulous departure from his presidential works and is worthy of anyone's time and energy to learn of those, like all Americans, climbed out of obscurity to create a magnificent work to benefit all mankind.

The quality of the work is exemplar like all of McCullough's books. My wife, I, and all my older children have experienced this work and we all favor it as one of our favorites and the story of the builders has left us more appreciative of our ancestors and inspired to equal their efforts. We give this work and all of McCullough's works our highest recommendations.

As a civil engineer, I love reading about engineering masterpieces, and David McCullough does a great job writing about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. The engineering details were fascinating, but the political background and doings, and the life of the chief engineer, Washington Roebling, all come together to make an incredible story.

Washington Roebling and his father John, were two remarkable people, and McCullough brings them to life with his writing. They experienced both triumph and tragedy in the building of the bridge, with John dying from a freak accident just as construction began, and Washington suffering the bends in the caissons of the bridge. Washington's wife Emily is also finely drawn and shown to be indispensable in the building of the bridge.

At times, the political dramas that played around the planning and construction of the bridge in Brooklyn and New York interrupted the flow a bit, but there were so many political factors involved, including scandals and back-room dealings, that politics could hardly be ignored. As with many stories, there were plenty of villains as well as heroes.

But the building of the bridge was what I was most interested in, and the author did a wonderful job of describing the various steps in the construction, keeping it simple enough that a layman could follow it. Some actual photographs and drawings of the construction add hugely to the enjoyment of the book.

Highly recommended reading about a monument to engineering and a can-do spirit!

I was a bit skeptical about a book centered on a bridge. The author masterfully puts it in its historical context with emphasis on the individuals (Roeblings) responsible for its successful building. The prose is excellent and it flows well. I would have appreciated more information from the perspective of the men who received orders from Emily and who actually built it i.e.the assistant engineers and the army of work men. McCullough concentrated on the personalities and events. As a consequence, he did not spend as much time sketching the structural implications of the design and how it differed from contemporary bridges. As a first stop, I think this is a great book to start.

In "The Great Bridge", David McCullough tells the tale of the building of one of the great landmarks of America. This book is thorough and well written, as we expect from David McCullough. McCullough examines the story from all angles. We read of the engineering challenges, the public support, the political scandals and the personalities involved in the building of the bridge. I am sure that the story has particular appeal for residents of Brooklyn and New York. New Jersey residents will have an interest in the oft cited chief engineer, Washington Roebling, of Trenton. For a resident of Kirkwood, Missouri, the mention of railroad engineer, James Kirkwood, and the frequent comparisons to James Eads of the Eads Bridge and Eads Boat Works of St. Louis, give this book a personal touch.

I debated whether I should rate this as a "3" or a "4" before ending with a "4". As I often say in my reviews, one way that I test a book is by whether it inspires me to read more about the subject. This one fails that test. I have no enhanced desire to read about New York or bridges. For my tastes, there was a bit too much about the engineering and the actual construction practices. The sections about the civic and political leadership were a bit too parochial to generate any further interest on my part. I finally concluded that the problem is in me, not the book. For a reader who loves New York or has a passion for civil engineering, this book would be great. If you fall into those categories, you will probably love this book. For a reader without those interests, David McCullough's story telling magic will hold your attention. For my interests, it is a good read, but not a topic to which I would assign a high priority.

fast delivery - excellent read

David McCullough is a guarantee, and the Brooklyn Bridge is too. But did you know that the Roeblings are top grade, 100%, acme dudes as well? This is a fine story that would be nearly unbelievable as fiction, but which is as interesting as anything a person could make up, better for being true. I just loved the book!

When I first thought about reading this book it was almost laughable. I thought who would want to read a book about the building of a bridge. In trusting McCullough I was not disappointed. This book sucks the reader into a world of disaster and eventual triumph. It is also an excellent addition to urban history of New York. For those interested in the history of technology they will find plenty here from the ideas of laying the pylons to the suspension techniques used. This harrowing tale of triumph over the problem is very inspiring and is something that all should read. For those who consider themselves true American historians this is a must have for their library.

After reading several history books about disasters and calamities (influenza and floods in particular), I was ready for a book about building something--something I was well-familiar with in fact, the Brooklyn Bridge. As with many public works projects, the birth of the concept came many years before its realization. In the case of the greatest bridge of its day, a generation passed between the conception and fundamental design by John Roebling and the detailed design and construction by his son Washington Roebling. One theme of the book is the mighty power of great ideas. The elder Roebling died before the first spade of earth was turned, victim of an unfortunate accident and hideous death from lockjaw (the description will make you sure to get a tetanus shot the next time you're unsure whether you need one). The younger Roebling spent almost no time at the construction site after the sinking of the pilings, having suffered signficant damage to his nervous system from the bends, an ill-understood condition in the late 1800's. McCullough also tells the political story behind the building of the bridge--the rivalry between Manhattan (then New York) and Brooklyn continues to this day. The civil and mechanical engineering discussion got a little thick at times, but McCullough included many period photos and drawings to help the reader's understanding. Overall, The Great Bridge is a fascinating and perhaps inspiring book for engineers (in those days the top engineers were revered for their seeming mastery of nature--moreso than today when their contributions have become so much a part of everyday life), and an entertaining and informative read for laymen.

I could not get through this book. After 150 pages, I granted myself a pardon.

A biography of Truman is the only other book of Mr. McCullough's that I have read. I loved it (and highly recommend it). Unlike Truman, The Great Bridge reads like a listing of dry facts set into a timeline.

I could not get through this book. After 150 pages, I granted myself a pardon and tossed this book into the "books for people with more time and less interests" pile.

A biography of Truman is the only other book of Mr. McCullough's that I have read. I loved it (and highly recommend it). Unlike Truman, The Great Bridge reads like a listing of dry facts set into a timeline.

While the Brooklyn Bridge is the oldest of the bridges crossing the East River, it's one of the strongest, sturdiest and will most likely outlast the Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges. John Roebling and his son, Washington, did not know how the forces of nature and bridge loads would affect their bridge. Given this gap in their knowledge they overcompensated by building a bridge capable of withstanding forces many times greater than would ever be applied to their structure.

But the Roeblings' gaps in knowledge also worked against them. One of the most interesting portions of the book is where McCullough discusses the pressurized caissons beneath the East River where Washington Roebling and many his workers spent their time. Few doctors or engineers at the time knew how high pressure environments would affect the human body. The quick changes in pressure killed workers and left many, including Washington, with a condition known as the bends. Washington's wife, Emily, was forced to transform herself into chief engineer while Washington struggled with the bends.

There are lots of fascinating facts and tidbits throughout this book on the bridge and the people involved with its construction. McCullough's book is much more about the politics and people behind Brooklyn Bridge rather than the engineering. I would have preferred to read more about the engineering techniques, but I still found this book reasonably engaging.

All too often we walk by things that are true wonders. Yes, we need to slow down, stop, and smell the flowers, but how many of us stop and think about how wonderful the manmade structures are that we use every day? This story of the Brooklyn Bridge shows just how marvelous is that bridge - from its conception through its actual construction and dedication. It's all here: political intrigue, official corruption, flights of inventive genius, family drama, danger, and the list could go on. As alluded to in the title I chose for this review, this book should be read by anyone contemplating project management, because there are so many lessons here for folks who want to keep a project moving in the right direction. I give this book 5 stars because it is a marvelous story about a monumental construction.

If you're sufficiently interested in the Brooklyn Bridge to read something book-sized about it, let it be this book. By the same token, no single book and necessarily suit everybody's needs which explains why some people below complain that there is too much social history, too much engineering detail, or even not enough engineering detail. Heck, if you want to dig deeper onto any aspect of this book there is a fine bibliography in the back of it, and an amazing amount of the historical materials cited in it can be found on the Web if you know how to search for it.

One other suggestion: treat yourself and buy the Dover picture book "A Picture History of the Brooklyn Bridge" as a companion to this one. Even though the selection of photos in the McCullough book is more or less generous, the broader coverage of the Dover book helps you better visualize more of what is in the book.

The Great Bridge by David McCullough (Reviewed by Philip W. Henry, Rialto,CA)

David McCullough's masterful history of the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge should rank at the top of any "listmania" list of Classic History Writing. McCullough's bibliography runs from Theodore Roosevelt (Mornings on Horseback) to Harry Truman (Truman) to the Panama Canal (Path between the Seas) to the Brooklyn Bridge (The Great Bridge). He has a way of taking an unprepossessing subject, like a Bridge crossing the East River, or a canal crossing an isthsmus ?sp? and bringing it alive.

Like a modern Colossus of Rhodes, the massive structure took shape for a dozen years from the laying ofthe first of millions of stones beginning in 1870___ to the Gala grand Opening on May 24,1883. Hundreds of workmen (mostly recent immigrants from Ireland, Ital y and impoverished Europe) toiled beneath the river in dangerous wooden Caissons which regularly caught fire, killing many men. Supervising all of this from his Apartment in Brooklyn was The Chief Engineer, Washington Roebling. Roebling, whose father John was the Inspiration behind the Great Bridge, oversaw every facet of its construction despite being virtually incapacitated by Nitrogen Narcosis ("The Bends") which he contracted from spending long hours beneath the East River.

Roebling's wife basically directed the work, taking copious notes in longhand and firing off hundreds of letters to subcontractors, lawyers, and politicians. Intertwined in the Bridge Construction is the history of the City of New York: the bustling streets; "hell's kitchen' with its smorgasbord of humanity; the corrupt political hacks of Tammany Hall like Seth Low (after whom, ironically, was named the first Library of Columbia University, my Alma Mater) and the great drama of the City that never sleeps.

Come to think of it, The Great Bridge is a sort of Metaphor for America: Great ambition; great Hubris. Great Book! A word about art and illustrations: they make the book, with line drawings from Harper's Weekly and Frank Leslie's Illustrated News. Imagine if CNN and the Internet had been around then).

The Great Bridge by David McCullough (Reviewed by Philip W. Henry, Rialto,CA)

David McCullough's masterful history of the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge should rank at the top of any "listmania" list of Classic History Writing. McCullough's bibliography runs from Theodore Roosevelt (Mornings on Horseback) to Harry Truman (Truman) to the Panama Canal (Path between the Seas) to the Brooklyn Bridge (The Great Bridge).

He has a way of taking an unprepossessing subject (like a Bridge across the East River) and bringing it alive. Rising like a modern Colossus of Rhodes, the massive structure took shape for a dozen years from the beginning in 1870___ to the Gala grand Opening on May 24,1883. Hundreds of workmen (mostly recent immigrants from Ireland, Ital y and impoverished Europe) toiled beneath the river in dangerous wooden Caissons which regularly caught fire, killing many men. Supervising all of this from his Apartment in Brooklyn was The Chief Engineer, Washington Roebling. Roebling, whose father John was the Inspiration behind the Great Bridge, oversaw every facet of its construction despite being virtually incapacitated by Nitrogen Narcosis ("The Bends") which he contracted from spending long hours beneath the East River.

Roebling's wife basically directed the work, taking copious notes in longhand and firing off hundreds of letters to subcontractors, lawyers, and politicians. Intertwined in the Bridge Construction is the history of the City of New York: the bustling streets; "hell's kitchen' with its smorgasbord of humanity; the corrupt political hacks of Tammany Hall like Seth Low (after whom, ironically, was named the first Library of Columbia University, my Alma Mater) and the great drama of the City that never sleeps.

Come to think of it, The Great Bridge is a sort of Metaphor for America: Great ambition; great Hubris. Great Book! A word about art and illustrations: they make the book, with line drawings from Harper's Weekly and Frank Leslie's Illustrated News. Imagine if CNN and the Internet had been around then).

I read this book when it first came out and still remember much of it. This priceless description of the engineering and construction of the Brooklyn Bridge and of how the Roeblings made it all happen is worth every moment of the time you will spend reading it.

Recreating the culture and times here is a big part of McCullough's success in writing this great book. Earlier histories emphasized the Roeblings' interactions and obsessions, with great drama and effect. While McCollough plays that card here, too, the book places the reader into the times much more effectively. Yes, it's still about the father and son, but the people who contributed and benefitted play as great a role here.

Very satisfying read - enjoy it.

David McCullough is a wonderful story teller. We can put aside genre compartmentalization when discussing one of his works because the author's apparent interests are so diverse. How could one describe a book as manifest as The Great Bridge when seeking an idea of what it entails? Well, of course there is the idea of archetechtural accomplishments, of the ups and downs and rising and falling of brilliant physical design coming to terms with the hard realities of labor and human failings. There is mathematical wizardry and the oftimes rambling thoughts of creative genius versus the unglamorous sprawl of big city politics just after the civil war. Here we have the story of American immigrant accomplishment told in swift and startling detail in a multi-generational biography of the great family Roebling. It is a story of crime and deceit and deception and political manuevering and the ever-present threat of corruption's results and subsequent influence. The Great Bridge is the story of American history coming into modern times, of great cities growing greater and the distance between rich and poor, aristocrat and poor laborer and the many social issues that arise out of both hardship and greed.

The Great Bridge is an indefinable book--a masterpiece of its kind and a book, for sheer adventure, thrills, terror, comedy, romance and heart-rending tragedy it is very hard to top. Wonderful popular history told by perhaps the best at this game.

McCullough and Chernow are my two favorite history writers for there excellent prose style and insight into the important features of every story. Here McCullough denotes the numerous political and economical problems that Roebling encountered to get this bridge built. The political turmoil as to whether to charge a fee for its crosing and who was to receive that fee are evident potential castrophe's from the onset. Yet with the political jaugernaught of Tammany Hall bureaucrats the Bridge is not only built but made to exceed all specifications. Nitrous bends as each major pillar were sunk into the Hudson killed or maimned many workers but Roebling was able to find it source and with a gradual ascent to normal atmospheric pressure their development of the "Bends" was curtailed. The Brooklyn bridge was also the scene were while driving over it in 1985 I proposed to my wife. Fascinating reading by one of the finest American writers.

I have been fascinated by the Brooklyn Bridge ever since my art history professor talked about it's importance back in my first art history survey class in college - and having now moved to Brooklyn I appreciate it all the more. In fact, it was in the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge this past March of 2005 that I proposed to my wife - so the Brooklyn Bridge will always be an important memory for both of us.

David McCullough brings the Bridge alive in incredible ways throughout his book, showing the fierce power struggles in so many different realms of the society that ultimatly built the Brooklyn Bridge. The book spans every topic about the bridge that anyone could possible want, from the complex engineering used to bring the cassions down to the bottom of the East River to Emily Roebling's dynamic personality and her role in the building of the bridge.

There are so many things in this world that have truly fascinating histories, but sadly history is often made out to be boring. McCullough is to be commended for how interesting he makes every detail of the bridge, from the begining to the end of the book. Having read this book, I'll never see the bridge quite the same way - like the book cover says.

McCullough's biographies and histories are among the best available, combining superb scholarship with easy reading, and this history of the Brooklyn Bridge is superb.

While I was carrying this around, several people asked why I was reading it, and three immediate answers came to mind: First, because it's a great read! This is every bit as good as most novels, and more fun that most. Second, it's a wonderful study in character. When most of our news is filled with controversy and scandal, here are two men (father and son) who stood as exemplars of honesty, determination, courage and faithfulness. If you want someone to model your life after, I recommend either of these men - or Emily Roebling, Washington's wife and assistant. And third, because 130 years later, the Brooklyn Bridge remains one of America's great engineering feats, as well as a work of art.

The father, John Roebling, was a true genius. Arriving from Germany as a young man, he founded a city (Saxonburg), perfected the concept of suspension bridges, and built one of the great companies of the 19th century. Then in a tragic accident during the preliminary surveys for the bridge, he was injured and died a horrible death of tetanus shortly afterward.

His son, Washington, took over work on the bridge and devoted the next fourteen years of his life to seeing it through. The details of the construction, by themselves, make this an amazing read!

This is one of those books that may not come up as a topic in most social situations, but it'll make you a better person and you'll like yourself for having read it. It's not a casual weekend read, but it's well worth the effort. Highly recommended.

David McCullough has a way of taking history and writing about it in a way that put you back in time. If history books in school were written half as well I would have become a history major. Very informative and interesting. Can't wait to get another of his books,

David McCullough has written many books, most of them great or near great. The rewards for excellence he has received are both numerous and deserved. I first read The Great Bridge some thirty years ago and have read most of his subsequent volumes. I recently received a gift, the paper back edition of The Great Bridge and with much anticipation re read the story in its entirety.
What struck me the most is that the enormous change over the past thirty some years...in morality, integrity and economics as well as the general life in the USA, has not affected the works of Mr. McCullough. His work then, and in each subsequent book, has shown his dedication to the subject at hand and the depth of his research into the matter has not wavered in the slightest. He becomes thoroughly immersed in the subject about which he writes and it seems as if he were living with the people that existed during the time frame of the story. Further, the reader (in this case)has the feeling of living and breathing during this post Civil War time in Brooklyn when the building of the bridge took place.
This is one of my favorite books. From the first page to the last it reads as if it were fiction. One feels as if he were a participant in this unprecedented engineering feat, much as the citizens of Athens must have felt when building the Acropolis.

David McCullough is deservedly popular for history, and when I learned of this book I was intrigued by the Brooklyn Bridge as a subject. I have never seen the bridge, or if I did see it on my relatively few trips to New York I didn't recognize it as anything other than one of a number of old bridges. But I have heard it memorialized in song, and I never knew what "the deal" about it was. Maybe David McCullough could shed some light on that.

And how! This turns out to be a biographical history, a construction history, a political history and a medical history. I learned a great deal, all woven together interestingly in this narrative.

Bottom line for me: When I get to NYC next time, I'm not leaving without going across the bridge. If it's still possible to walk across it, that's what I'll do. And in the meantime I will have much more respect for bridges, especially suspension bridges.

I enjoy reading history. The author makes you feel as if one was present in Booklyn while the bridge was being built.

I hadn't read something by David McCullough in several years. I had forgotten what a truly gifted writer he is. "The Great Bridge" was McCullough's second major work of history (published in 1972) and has been ranked #48 on The Modern Library's list of the "100 Best Non-Fiction Books."

Few authors of non-fiction can craft a narrative as exquisitely as McCullough. His chapters hop from detailed overviews of the history and technology of suspension bridge building in the mid-nineteenth century to biographical vignettes of the major characters to a review of political corruption and the Tweed Ring in New York City to the medical explanation of decompression sickness (i.e. "the bends") all without missing a beat and drawing the reader deeper into the story. One gets the sense that even if McCullough chose to write about the construction of a lonely stretch of West Texas highway he would somehow make it riveting.

Of course, the Brooklyn Bridge was far from a trivial undertaking. It was the "Eighth Wonder of the World." It was the greatest suspension bridge in the world during a period when such structures had a frightening propensity to tumble out of the sky taking scores of people to their deaths.

The most awe-inspiring thing about the bridge is that it was designed using nothing more than paper, pencils and the human mind. The chief engineers - the father-and-son duo of John and Washington Roebling - didn't have the benefit of CAD/CAM programs for bridge design or super computers to run sophisticated regressions to test the strength of the bridge under millions of combinations of weather and weight conditions. They did all of this themselves using longhand linear algebra and advanced calculus.

Perhaps even more impressive than the mathematical acumen required for the task was the physical exertion it required on the part of the work crew. The two massive caissons on either shore of the East River were sunk upwards of 80 feet using nothing more than picks and shovels in the frightful environment of the nine-foot compressed air tomb on the river floor. And in the absence of medical knowledge on the effects of rapid decompression, a great share of the work crew, including Washington Roebling himself, suffered lifelong debilitation (and is several cases death) from "the bends."

David McCullough is a national treasure. We are lucky to have such a talent to help us remember our past.

McCullough has produced a compelling work of scholarship and, as we are used by now, an insightful study of dynamic (if eccentric) personalities who helped propel American history forward. The story of the Bridge is the story of the invention of 20th century New York. Is it too much to conclude that the Bridge was one of the most important technological accomplishments to America's emergence as world leader in the 20th century? Perhaps not. It's worth discussing. Either way, though, this is a book to relish.

I love McCullough and consider Truman and Adams two of the best books I've ever read. A friend told me to read this book, claiming it was McCullough's best so I gave it a shot. It was a quick read, informative in spots... but, it gets bogged down in what I feel are some not some important details about the politics surrounding the bridge.

I understand why McCullough talks at length about the investors and the corruption that went on surrounding the bridge, but at times I feel the book goes off in directions that takes away from the story of how the bridge was built.

My only other complaint was the level of explanation on the engineering side. I don't have a background in construction and found myself completely lost at times when McCullough was describing the way the anchorage/cable systems work. I wish that McCullough would have enlisted an engineer or architect to draw several modern day schematics to assist his explanations because to be honest I was just lost at times.

Overall though, the book was well researched and, as usual with McCullough, unbelievably well written. It just accelerates and keeps you interested.

I would have trimmed some of the extra politic explanations out however and maybe given the reader an easier explanation of the engineering side of the bridge.

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.

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.