The Bridge: How the Roeblings Connected Brooklyn to New York by Peter J. Tomasi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I grew up on the West Coast of the United States. The big important bridge here is the Golden Gate Bridge. Many people think that the bridge itself is the Golden Gate, but the bay that it crosses is what bares that name. It was built during the depression, and despite it being there, along with the Bay Bridge, the Richmond Bridge, the San Mateo Bridge, and the San Rafael Bridge, ferry service still happens across the bay.
When the start of this story happens, there are ferries that go across the East River, but because of the ice, they have trouble getting across, or the pilots can not stere, or they are drunk. For whatever reason, the father of Washington Roebling was not happy with the state of the ferry services, and so proposed that a bridge be built and he would design it, along with his son. This all was taking place a few years after the American Civil War, in 1869, and it was not completed until 1883. This was one of the first of its kind, and it killed many people, including, almost killing Washington Roebling himself.
It is all an amazing story, filled with great detail, and tragedy, and joy, and all those things you want in a good story.
That a great thing to have it in such an accessible book. It is a little wordy, for those who want to look at pictures only, you can get the heart of the story, just thumbing through it, but to find out the suffering, and courage it took to keep going, and completing the bridge, it helps if you read all the words.
It was hard to choose which illustrations best represented what you would find in this book, but these are the ones I chose.
A great way to learn about New York history.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
