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

I have read all of David McCullough's books since May of 2008. They are all true masterpieces. The Great Bridge, along with Truman, are stand outs - but none disappoint! I visited the Brooklyn Bridge after reading this book and actualy saw the expanse for the first time. Before it was just a bridge. After reading the book it became alive with the story of the great(and not so great)people of the times. McCullough is an artist as well as a writer.

The engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge was John A. Roebling. Unfortunately he never saw the results of his genius. It was his Son Washington Roebling along with his wife Emily who would bring the bridge to fruition over the East River. It was the major connect between Manhattan and the borough of Brooklyn, Long Island. It doesn't sound like much but this bridge developed the great metropolis of New York City into the center of the Western World in the late 19th Century and onto the 20th Century. The span took over 13 years to complete. The most difficult aspect of its building was the building of the foundation of the bridge. The underground work in the formation of the Caissons proved to be difficult and in many cases fatal to the workers. Eventually these problems were resolved and the bridge was completed under the auspices of the directions of Emily Roebling. Washington Roebling by this time was only the symbolic leader of this enormous project.
David McCullough has written a masterpiece. I believe it to be one of the major historical works of the 20th Century. He wrote this book as he lived and breathed in Brooklyn, NY. Five Stars and as you well know, No Problem!!!!

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.