Customer Reviews

Bridges: A History of the World's Most Famous and Important Spans

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Show an average person the Golden Gate or the Brooklyn Bridge and watch their eyes light up. Tell that average person some history or what design methods were used, and watch their eyes glaze over. History, technology and entertainment is a difficult mix, especially in print, but Judith Dupre' combines them wonderfully in "Bridges" - a worthy follow-up to her best selling "Skyscrapers". Fifty of history's most famous spans are detailed in this wonderful collage of text, photos, graphics and trivia bits. Bridges are wide, and so is this book, which measures a full 36 inches when opened. One most appealing aspect of Judith Dupre's work is the many "sidebar" views she takes of her subjects. Pages are devoted to covered bridges, portable bridges used in war, bridge catastrophes, even "Bridges in the Movies". An interview with the Guinness Book record holder for "most suspension bridges walked across" offers a personal dimension, and mirrors the passion that many readers no doubt feel for these creations. This is a fun book, suitable for the aficionado or for people who would like to enjoy the subject without being overpowered. The author is not afraid to have fun with her subject, and that makes "Bridges" a fun book you will enjoy for a long time! - Jeff Herzer

It reminds me of how they put together movies these days. Grab some stock photos, find a writer without any knowledge of the subject, put in a big name star who's irrelevant to the whole enterprise (Frank Gehry) and put it all together in a unique package (a long narrow book). Its all about packaging, and nothing about content.

The book purports to be a history of the most famous and important bridge spans, but the few factoids that make it into print are usually wrong (even the most cursory peer reviewer would know that the San Francisco earthquake was in 1906 not 1909), and no one will be enlightened by the author's description of the Tacoma Narrows or San Francisco Bay bridge failures).

What was particularly disconcerting was to read on the back page that the author, rather than being interested in her subject, is concerned with "exploring the interaction of text and image on the printed page."

They don't even take advantage of the books unique length to show elevation views of its subjects. Rather, the stock photos are cropped to fit on a single page.

I wish they would put Leonhardts books on bridges back in print. I'm sick of these feeble efforts that are all style and no content.

Mark Yashinsky, Senior Bridge Engineer, California Department of Transportation

Every day we traverse bridges in our daily lives, scarcely to give them thought. Dupre pulls back the veil and brings highlight to these engineering feats. From the simple to the revolutionary, we are brought on a tour of bridges through time, and around the globe. The superlatives are here: the longest suspension bridge, highest, oldest. But it's not a book about the superlative; it's about what moves us forward in our quest for technology, and for our ability to move across space in a timely manner. It highlights those bridges that mean something to us: where the Romans said "let's make a permanent way of moving water." Where politics came into play and tried to prevent bridges that we can't imagine not being there like the Golden Gate Bridge. Bridges become important to history such as the ones over the Rhine during the World War. And sometimes when we make mistakes and things don't work out like we planned - the most spectacular example being the Tacoma Narrows Bridge that lasted all of 4 months.

But as she shows in her book "Skyscrapers," there is an intertwining of form and function, and where man built up in buildings, he builds out via bridges. The book's design even emphasizes - where Skyscrapers was an extremely tall and thin book, Bridges goes for width, to try and bring the spans into the range of the printed page. Yet so often, the task is not possible, and even on the wide pages the bridge disappears into the distance.

The book looks at the engineering involved, but does not dwell on it. Rather it celebrates how the improvement of engineering practices have been able to move man forward. A veritable love poem to something that we often take too much for granted.

"Bridges" was the first of the uniquely-designed, well-written books by Judith Dupre' that I discovered. "Skyscrapers" then became a 'must-have' and now I'm eagerly awaiting publication of her "Churches" - these books contain marvelous black and white photo collections of subjects around the world, with a succinct and intriguing text about each. They invite repeated perusals, and I keep them, in their handsome jackets, where I can see and enjoy them again and again. Often, when I have a few moments, I like to reflect on the historical descriptions of these wonderous man-made miracles and re-study the photos. Of special interest may be the structures which one in fact has seen, perhaps many times. The books are well-indexed and provided with suggestions for further reading.

This is a book that all bridge lovers will appreciate. It combines a unique presentation (1/2 yard long) with wonderful pictures. This book does only include general information on the bridge so if you are looking for a highly technical book this is not it. However this is a great book to have on your coffee table as your guests will enjoy the unique layout and breathtaking pictures.

The book immediately draws interest because of its unique shape and size. About three foot long when opened, it is ideally proportioned for profile views of bridges. It is an ideal coffee table book though probably hard to manage on a shelve. It makes good viewing on one day and good reading on another. Some statistical information in the back is a useful check on bridges the reader has visited. Would consider giving it to any young civil engineer type, foreign traveler, or anyone with interest in architecture.

Mr. Yashinsky is a Senior Bridge Engineer at CDOT. Judith Dupre's audience is the world full of people who are NOT Senior Bridge Engineers and her mission is to present the fascinating subject of bridges to that audience. An important part of accomplishing that mission IS about marketing. My personal collection of 182 bridge books includes two volumes by Fritz Leonhardt which I hold in high regard. I am pleased to say that I also hold Judith Dupre's new book in high regard and that I think it admirably accomplishes its goal. Robert Cortright (bridgink@hevanet.com), Tigard, Oregon.

I was a little disappointed in this book in that it really doesn't get into much detail about any of the bridges which are discussed. It's more of a "coffe table" book without out much informative depth. Nothing to really sink your teeth into. However, if you're not already familiar with any of the bridges covered in the book, or you're not a nut for bridges, then this book is a great introduction to a few of the most beautiful bridges to be seen. One neat thing that I did really like is that it is a very wide book which allows you a little better perspective of the true size of some of the bridges - you get long pictures instead of little ones of each bridge. That was kind of cool! My 5 yr old son loves "reading" this book to me!

'Bridges' is an excellent book to have in your library. It also makes the perfect gift to give someone who has an interest in not just architecture, but history as well. It gives a brief history on each bridge together with very large high quality B/W photos. An excellent follow up from Dupre's first in the series 'Skyscapers'. I hope Judith Dupre is considering to continue the series with another book in the same style. A book on 'Stadiums' perhaps. If you loved 'Skyscrapers' you will find 'Bridges' just as rewarding, a must to add to your collection. Thanks Judith!

May I make the comment that DuPre did not use only use ONLY stock photos in her most recent book, Bridges. As a photo archivist, I helped her select original historic photos from the collections of Hagley Library. I think her latest effort is an excellent history of bridge making to the those of us who are not professional engineers.