The Great Bridge
by David McCullough
The Brooklyn Bridge: John Roebling's design, his death, his son Washington's crippling by caisson disease, and Emily Roebling's management of the project for a decade. Engineering history and a study of persistence.
Read it if…
you want a story of finishing something enormous against the odds.
See the book →
Skip it if…
you dislike engineering detail; there is much.
Try instead: The Johnstown Flood →
Three things you will actually use
- Finish what you start, even from a sickbed.
- Delegate to the capable person at hand.
- Great work takes longer than planned.
Do this first
Read the chapters on Emily Roebling.
Our verdict
Persistence, in steel.
See the book →
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