David McCullough is one of my favorite writers, and the Brooklyn Bridge is one of my favorite bridges, as it is for so many, so this book was bound to be a favorite. It did not disappoint. Mr. McCullough is so thorough and yet his writing is so approachable and his perspective so human. The way Mr. McCullough tells it, the story of the Brooklyn Bridge is not merely the story of a great feat of engineering, it is a human story full of intrigue and disaster and empathy and triumph. This is a masterful, epic tale woven as strongly as the cables that link Manhattan and Brooklyn over the East River.

Today, the building of the Brooklyn Bridge seems to be no mean feat, but in the waning years of the 19th century it was an imposing task. The concept of building a bridge connecting NYC and Brooklyn had been kicked around for some time, but it took the vision and determination of John A. Roebling, the genius of suspension bridges, to make it a reality. At the time, the Brooklyn Bridge was considered one of the wonders of the modern world, right up there with the Eiffel Tower. McCullough takes readers to school on the many challenges that needed to be overcome in the building of the bridge - political, financial, human, social, scientific, and engineering. It made me wish I had followed my father's career path into engineering to better understand the many challenges and technical details, new problems that required ingenuity and a new way of thinking. The author walks the reader through these issues, and even without the technical background, the story is fascinating and highly engaging. McCullough brings the story to life with biographical sketches of the major players and a rich background of the country in the late 1900s. Today, the Brooklyn Bridge is just one on many traffic-ways across the East River. A hundred and thirty-six years ago it was a marvel of the ages.

What a fascinating story about one of the technological marvels of the world. The human drama and the innovation required to construct this marvelous bridge is fascinating reading, even if you have never visited the Bridge itself. Highly recommended.

Incredibly detailed and well-researched. What a bridge!

Incredible book by a learned, modest author with the rare talent of taking almost anything and making it interesting, even compulsive reading. McCullough is up there with John McPhee and Anthony Beevor.

In all my years of biography reading, this was the first time an inanimate object, the Brooklyn Bridge, took centre stage. Under the guidance of McCullough, the story of the Bridge's conception and realisation emerged not only as an architectural feat, but as an exciting part of New York history. McCullough takes the reader through a historical adventure, similar to some of the other journeys he has undertaking in his biographical works, filling pages and chapters with the impact numerous characters played on the larger historical footprint. The 'great' moniker is aptly given to the Brooklyn Bridge because of the politics behind its inception, the creative ingenuity behind its building, and public response in its realisation. The attentive and patient reader is in for a classic tale, which highlights many worthy people, along an arduous and painstaking effort to build a single bridge. The symbolism of this one structure is not lost on McCullough, for which he gives his greatest effort. A wonderfully crafted tome, well worth a thorough exploration.

That the Brooklyn Bridge brought out politics at all levels is not lost on McCullough. As with any piece of public work, its essential nature runs parallel with the opportunity for politicians and businessmen to make decisions for the larger populace. Creation of a bridge executive committee allowed a few men to line their pockets while they oversaw its development. McCullough first tackles the political angle of the Bridge through a discussion steeped in ward and district bosses ready to capitalise on share development and ownership. McCullough spends much time outlining the role Boss Tweed played in the Bridge's investment opportunities. Tweed was able to create a shareholders' system that saw his own pockets lined, while also steering the Bridge's conceptual passage though the state legislature. Tweed handled some of the red tape and benefitted greatly, as he argued for the need to create a direct route from Brooklyn into New York proper. Politics remained a thread of the rest of the biography, through the selection of builders and the reaction by the public to the choices made by the aforementioned select few. Even the debate among general contractors was rife with political infighting, to the point that illness and time away from the project became stepping stones to seeming greatness. Politics plays a central role in the creation of public works, and always has; a topic McCullough does not try to bury while discussing one aspect of the Bridge's greatness.

The momentous nature of building the Brooklyn Bridge is not lost on McCullough. Early in the preface, McCullough mentions to the reader that he is no architect, engineer, or even well-versed in physics or construction. That said, even to those with an expertise in the field, building such a colossal structure in the 1860s and 1870s was by no means a small feat. Connecting Brooklyn and New York required passage over a significant waterway at a time when construction capabilities paled in relation to 21st century options. The Bridge was not only an architectural marvel, but also a piece of creative ingenuity. The concept came from John A. Roebling, whose life McCullough details in the early chapters. Roebling passed along this building passion to his son, Washington, who headed up the building process of the Brooklyn Bridge after his father's conceptual idea had been approved. Roebling was by no means alone in his venture, working with a slew of engineers, builders, and architecturally-savvy men whose experience with bridges varied greatly. While the Bridge's construction was filled with many wonderful feats, McCullough discusses the early use of caissons--a relative gamble by Roebling in those early days-- to help ground the Bridge in the earth below the water. While the reader may not take the time to think about this feat, iron or cement posts could not simply fall from the sky and embed themselves in the ground, leaving only wires and roadway to complete the suspension bridge. Slow and methodical drilling and excavating took time and ingenious thinking. Caisson usage was still new and brought about the development of many detriments as well as benefits. Use of compressed air chambers helped bring to light the discovery of 'the bends' amongst those who worked for extended periods of time within the caissons, as well as the horrors of fire while trapped far below the surface of the water. McCullough does, however, show how use of this technology helped hone the skills of bridge-makers and those who died did not do so in vain. In the latter portion of the biography, McCullough moves on to the importance of wires, key to the Bridge's suspension nature and exemplifies how Roebling developed his own patent for strengthening wire. Detailing tensile strength and material ruggedness, the builders had to factor in many variables to ensure the Brooklyn Bridge did not come apart and yet could withstand all that Mother Nature and Father Transportation threw its way. The technology advancements on offer laid the groundwork for many more public works all over the world, with the Brooklyn Bridge acting as a symbol of an architectural feat worthy of duplication.

The significant response by the public reveals McCullough's third persona of the Bridge. As with anything, there will be those on both sides of the issue, some favourable and others highly critical. While McCullough has addressed those with financial and political investment in this structure, as well as those who took the time to erect it, the general public's response plays a central role in its success. Some thought the best means to connect Brooklyn and New York might have been some form of tunnel, keeping the connection buried deep below the East River. Others took great pride in flocking to the bridge to traverse from one side to the other. When the passenger portion of the bridge opened to the public, people from all over the world sought to make their personal mark. When the Bridge opened to all forms of non-pedestrian traffic (from cart to livestock to equine), it became symbolic of New York much like its recently built Statue of Liberty. McCullough goes so far, in his updated preface, to discuss how the Brooklyn Bridge has become such an important part of New York's skyline that as the World Trade Centre towers smouldered, the Bridge's image in the foreground stood to reassure the world that the city remained intact. Public perception plays a central role in the success of the bridge, for it is the general populace whose investment in the final product that led to its long-term success and eventual greatness.

McCullough is a masterful storyteller, bringing history to life with each book he writes. I have seen this in all the tomes penned by this great historian. McCullough seeks to go beyond simply amassing information together and letting the reader learn through what history books have on offer, he tries to tell a story behind the history and brings characters to life in such a way that their own personal journeys become a thread the reader wishes to follow as well. While the Brooklyn Bridge is a symbolic means of getting from A to B, McCullough makes it about those who played a role and build the bridge with their own blood, sweat, and tears. For that, the reader ought to be eternally grateful. Creating his own historical conduit, McCullough takes the reader on an adventure never told before at a time when written documents were likely not as plentiful or have lasted the test of time. Add to that, the free and detailed discussion of technical aspects of engineering and architecture provide the reader with some added knowledge. For over one hundred years the Brooklyn Bridge has served the greater New York area and McCullough chose to look onto the horizon and tell the story as he would any great historic figure.

Kudos, Mr. McCullough for yet another masterful tale that sheds light on those whose names or efforts I knew nothing about. I cannot thank you enough for all you have done.

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This was mind-boggling tale of engineering ingenuity and a steady account of leadership fortitude. Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge takes on a whole new meaning when you know the rigors, the dangers, the challenges, and the ambition that it took to bring it into existence.

If you haven't read a book by David McCullough you are missing a VERY good author. He writes non-fiction. He works in collaboration with a large staff. Some people may call that cheating, but I don't care b/c everything he writes is thoroughly investigated, interesting and expressed with flair. His books are never dry, never boring. He knows what to put in and what to leave out. Here he writes about the Brooklyn Bridge! How in the world can you write about a bridge and make it fascinating? He has succeeded. Again!

The book covers all the details related to the making of the Brooklyn Bridge, from conception to completion. It is also a biography of two amazing people, John Augustus Roebling (1806-1869), a German immigrant and engineer who conceived of and designed the bridge, and his son Washington Augustus Roebling (1837-1926) who was the chief engineer during the bridge's construction from 1869-1883. It is also about Emily Warren Roebling, Washington’s first wife; she played an essential role in the making of the bridge! It is a book about the two cities, New York City and Brooklyn, which came to be linked by the creation of the bridge. It is about the political corruption of the era. I am sure you’ve heard of the shenanigans of Tammany Hall, well here they are again. People that really get you mad! It is about how the bridge forever changed New York City. It was a time of great innovation played out and shaped by the people of this great metropolis. The bigwigs, the politicians, the business men, the artisans, the immigrants, the small people and the big, the dreamers and the workers.

Read this book to meet Washington Roebling! His engagement is utterly inspirational. When mistakes were made he never shirked his responsibility and he wanted the Board of Trustees to shoulder their responsibility too.

In making a solid foundation for the bridge, workers excavated the riverbed using massive wooden boxes called caissons. These airtight chambers were pressed to the river’s floor by mammoth granite blocks; pressurized air was pumped in to keep water and rubble out. Workers succumbed to what is today known as “caisson disease”, "decompression sickness" or “the bends”: joint pain, numbness, paralysis, convulsions and sometimes death. Very little of this was understood then. In 1870 Washington Roebling worked from within a caisson to extinguish a fire that had broken out. Working often alongside men in the caissons he too came to suffer from the disease, as well as other nervous ailments.

I would have appreciated a more in-depth discussion of his medical problems resulting from "decompression sickness". Probably he also suffered from what is known as neurasthenia and perhaps secondary drug addiction. Due to his illnesses he worked in close corroboration with his wife holding his position as chief engineer "in absentia"! That he could later in 1921 become president of John A. Roebling's Sons Company at age 84 is hard to comprehend! It is for this reason I would have liked a fuller understanding of what afflicted him!

I did have trouble sometimes understanding the minute and detailed description of the component parts of the bridge construction. Yet I never felt that even the details which I didn’t completely understand should be removed. A picture says simply what a thousand words try to explain. I did look in internet for detailed drawings but you need more than just a diagram. What you really need is someone pointing out the respective parts of the diagram to fully understand. Listening and listening and still not completely understanding was frustrating to me.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Nelson Runger. He does a totally fantastic job. He reads slowly. He reads clearly. He reads with feeling. When the bridge is completed, the author's lines and Runger's intonation allows one to appreciate the beauty and the magnificence of what had been created. There was a huge celebration with firecrackers, with bells tolling, whistles shrilling, firecrackers, tugs tooting, children scrambling and huge crowds marveling at the spectacle! I felt like I was there. When the electric lights of the bridge were first illuminated I could feel the wonder of the lights and the two dark stone towers, along with the thousands that watched.

An epilog completes the book so you know what happens to the central characters in the years after the bridge is completed.

While this book has many interesting details, it was written in a different time and it feels like every detail under the sun is in the book. Not sure I needed to know Roebling’s last words, or lack thereof. The engineering challenges are very interesting along with battling the bends, but the horrifying description of his dad’s fatal tetanus is unnecessary to the story. The political intrigue was entertaining but I think the book could have been finished up at the origin of the expression, “if you believe that, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.”

From start to finish, the building of the Brooklyn Bridge took fourteen years. It endures today albeit with renovations from time to time as years pass by. One thing I have realized in the last month or so is that one does not get time back. I love writing reviews, the five paragraph ones that give people pause for thought and say wow, great review. At the end of the day; however, I am writing for myself, and many of my goodreads friends have mentioned that they only have the time to read shorter reviews. That said, I still work full time and then run full time teen camp mommy in the summer. From time to time, I might crank out a five paragraph review, but for the most part, these one or two paragraphs will suffice. I can still get my thoughts down, enabling me to remember the gist of what each book contained. With less time needed to write, I can read more in a more relaxed manner. Even when I read a longer history book such as this one, I read for enjoyment and to relax, hence I have now taken ownership of my reading, reviewing, and quality down time. I chalk that up as a win.

That said and out of the way, this year the ladies of the RCC book club here on goodreads are exploring the works of former US history laureate David McCullough, who passed away less than two years ago. He was ninety and left history writing in the able hands and minds of a younger generation including Eig and Egan. One thing that characterizes a book by any of these history masters is that historical events read like a story and bring the past to life. That is why I read and study history and why I suggested reading the works of this author to a group primarily known for its penchant to read historical fiction. We agreed on three works for the year; the Great Bridge was the second we have read, being appropriate because the bridge’s grand opening took place in the month of May. The bridge when completed made it the longest suspension bridge in the world. It connected the cities of New York and Brooklyn and brought them into a modern age symbolized by steel and electricity. Before the turn of the century, Brooklyn became a burrough of New York but maintained its own identity as city of upcoming immigrants and also rans unlike its elegant elder sibling Manhattan. It was this bridge that connected the two burroughs and began to modernize the city to one of electric light and a subway that connected people of what would eventually be five Burroughs of a sprawling metropolis. The bridge kicked off this path to modernity of the city that people around the world recognize to this day. A bridge, not a person or event.

I have lived in Cincinnati for a good portion of my adult life. When I mentioned to my husband that I was reading a book about the Brooklyn Bridge, he noted that the bridge is a copycat of the one that we have here in Cincinnati. I lauded him because I doubt many Americans knew that piece of history. We pass over the first Roebling suspension bridge every time we cross the Ohio River into Kentucky, a fact necessitated by the location of the airport on the Kentucky side of the river. I might look for a few seconds- as much as the view is breathtaking, I have never liked traveling over bridges. I did for years as I crossed the Mississippi River to attend college in Iowa and that river is wider than the Ohio. It is what it is. What my husband recognized is that the same civil engineer constructed the Cincinnati and Brooklyn Bridges. I joked that no one would read a five hundred page book about the construction of the Cincinnati bridge even though it came first. Washington Roebling supervised the construction of this bridge just after the completion of the Civil War at the request of his father John. An engineering marvel of the 19th century, the bridge still stands.

The Brooklyn Bridge has long been the subject of songs, poems, books, television shows. Due to its location it remains one of the two most famous bridges in the United States to this day. Its construction was considered an engineering feat at the time of completion in May 1883 and was not without its behind closed doors history of political mechanisms and bribery, including the obligatory appearance from the Tweed Ring of Tammany Hall. Some things never change- just look at any construction project that takes years to complete. Washington Roebling of John A Roebling’s Sons Wire and Company stayed above the political graft. It might have taken fourteen years to complete this engineering feat, but the man remained honorable throughout. Stricken ill early in the bridge’s construction, he dictated daily letters to his wife Emily, who learned about engineering as the project progressed. Although at the time many people refused to believe that a woman was learned enough to manage a project of the bridge’s magnitude, it was Emily Roebling more than any other person who brought the construction of the bridge to completion.

The Brooklyn Bridge opened on May 23,1883 to political fanfare and fireworks. Washington Roebling would outlive all of the politicians and newsmen who attempted to use the bridge for their personal gain. In the first half of the book, McCullough includes a lot of technical terms about wire and iron and steel that make some of the early reading tedious. A fellow RCC reader told me that she had to stop reading twice. Once I hit about page 250, the technical terms dried up. The book became a history of the building of the bridge and read like a story that only McCullough could write. That is why he endured for years as the nation’s history laureate. He tells the story of this nation as a man reading a bedtime story to his grandchildren. I doubt many would read the stories of the Johnstown Flood or Pioneers who settled Ohio territory of the Brooklyn Bridge construction from any other writer. He brought these stories to life. I don’t get to Brooklyn much but the next time I cross the Roebling suspension bridge into Kentucky, I will attempt to keep my eyes open and view the construction marvel with new found appreciation. As for those shorter reviews, they are still a work in progress.

3.75 stars (would be 4 but technical terms got tedious)

I had always heard there is nothing quite like a David McCullough book. So, I finally picked one up. Since I'm living in NY now, I figured I'd learn about the Brooklyn Bridge, because people here still talk about how many lives the bridge took.

I can now confirm: There is nothing like a David McCullough book. This is intense nonfiction.

You have to know what you're paying for: David McCullough writes factually and to the point. He doesn't entertain an ounce of sensationalism. It has the class of a Ken Burns documentary.

He does get bogged down in details on occasion, but he saves his work through his commitment to the writing craft.

The audiobook was 27 hours long, but I found myself sad when the book ended. The narrator was incredible. It felt like having your grandfather tell you a story.

Highly recommended for history nerds and engineers.

There were definitely interesting bits and even some humor. It was very detailed. So much detail. Lost me during big stretches of politics and accounting. Perhaps it's just spring fever but it was so hard to stay with this one. I learned a lot but I'm so glad it's over.