This monumental book is the enthralling story of one of the
greatest events in our nation's history, during the Age of
Optimism -- a period when Americans were convinced in their
hearts that all things were possible.
In the years around
1870, when the project was first undertaken, the concept of
building an unprecedented bridge to span the East River
between the great cities of Manhattan and Brooklyn required
a vision and determination comparable to that which went
into the building of the great cathedrals. Throughout the
fourteen years of its construction, the odds against the
successful completion of the bridge seemed staggering.
Bodies were crushed and broken, lives lost, political
empires fell, and surges of public emotion constantly
threatened the project. But this is not merely the saga of
an engineering miracle; it is a sweeping narrative of the
social climate of the time and of the heroes and rascals who
had a hand in either constructing or exploiting the
surpassing enterprise.