Eiffel's Tower: And the World's Fair Where Buffalo Bill Beguiled Paris, the Artists Quarreled, and Thomas Edison Became a Count

Recommended

A truly enjoyable book filled with fascinating characters having fun at the 1889 Paris Exposition. The book details how Eiffel overcame waves of criticism to build the world's tallest building, and it visits Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show -an extravaganza across town that drew huge crowds. Thomas Edison also makes an appearance hawking his new, improved phonograph; and artists Paul Gauguin and James Whistler maneuver to have their paintings on display. The book is easy to read, and makes a great prequel to Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City.

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

The Tallest Construction in the World Until 1930

If you had a head for heights in 1886, you would not have been without a job. If you were American, you could have helped with the construction of the Statue of Liberty. An Englishman, Tower Bridge; but in France only Frenchmen could work on the construction of the Eiffel Tower. Today we tend to take these iconic landmarks for granted, but 123 years ago, they were modern marvels. This fact is not lost on Jill Jonnes in her highly detailed and beautifully written work, Eiffell's Tower.

The 1063 foot tower was the tallest construction in the world until the Chrysler Building in 1930. Even so, it was the tallest building in France until the Millau Viaduct was built in 2004. The brainchild of Gustave Eiffel, it was intended to be the focus and centre piece of the 1889 World Fair at Paris; and it was. It did not start out that way however. Many were the critics and detractors particularly those who lived within its environs. Gustave Eiffell had to personally indemnify many in order to get the construction started. One demand of the authorizing committee was that all labour and material had to be French. This was fine until they needed elevators. The only company that could propel an elevator up over a 1000 feet, and bring it back safely, was the Otis Elevator Company of America. Jonne's description of the testing of the 'fail-safe braking' is breath taking. Eiffell's insistence of all things French, caused great consternation between the two companies, resulting in litigation. America, however, could not have been too unhappy with Mr. Eiffell as they used his Chief Engineer Maurice Koechlin to design and build the internal structure of the Statue of Liberty.

One could be forgiven for thinking that 354 pages about a cast iron tower would be of interest only to civil engineers: but one would be very wrong. Ms Jonnes, has interwoven the practicalities of tower building with intricate details of the lives of celebrities who visited the World Fair and Tower. One is constantly intrigued by these snippets of information.

Eiffle's Tower is a book that keeps on giving. The pace of interest never slackens even to the last chapter where Jonnes winds up the stories of the featured celebs.
I highly recommend this work, and will seek out more of Jill Jonne's work.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Excellent Coverage of Events

Eiffel's Tower is an entertaining and educational trip through time. Meeting characters-some literally-like Eiffel, Thomas Edison, the Van Gogh brothers and the entire Buffalo Bill Wild West Show cast made this book a pleasure to read. Jill Jonnes is a good storyteller who does not lose the reader as the cast of characters expands as time and the event that ties them all together is never lost.
I look forward to reading this book again in the future to pick up those tidbits I didn't find on the first go-around.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

I read it at the Tower

It gave me quite a thrill to read this book in front of the ET. Because of Jonnes' vivid descriptions I felt as though I was actually at the fair! The book was so interesting, involving, and well-written that I had to ration my reading of it so I wouldn't inhale it at one sitting. I wanted it to last. Jonnes is a terrific storyteller.. the prose flows as though it wrote itself. I can't wait to read it again!

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Interesting subject.....low on balance and provocation.

In this book the construction of the Eiffel Tower is the lead story with the World Exposition for which the tower was built as a worthy companion subject. The stories are treated well with impressive research and interior pictures but there exists a disconnection, a lack of easy ebb and flow between the subjects. The information is plentiful and the prose is easy but the writing doesn't reach a thrilling or absorbing character. This book didn't become a page turning can't put it down experience. My three star rating is hesitantly rounded up from an average of two and a half.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Kimberly

U there shawan

Good HIST Good Historical

Paris is on my bucket list for travels The story of the event and construction of the tower is amazing

Interesting view of paris

Nice historical context

haha

it sucks

0 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Book Engineered Like the Fair Itself

I really enjoyed the entire story of the World's Fair where the Eiffel Tower was the centerpiece. Like the fair, the book also makes it the center of the story, but also like the fair, the author weaves so many fasciniating stories, contemporary people and events all around and through it. The book becomes an engineering journal, a daily newspaper of current event, a political digest, a history book, and a novel of people's lives that you often forget were contemporary with this event. It was a good read in so many ways and on so many levels. Well researched but never drug down buy the research. A recomended read.

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