Eiffel: The Genius Who Reinvented Himself [Hardcover]

David I. Harvie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 25, 2005 | ISBN-10: 0750933089 | ISBN-13: 978-0750933087 | Edition: 1St Edition

The Eiffel Tower is perhaps the most famous tall building in the world, an icon of its own age and ours. It was the dream-child of French engineer Gustave Eiffel, along with Budapest railway station, the Douro Bridge in Portugal and the interior skeleton of the Statue of Liberty. In this new biography of Eiffel, the first for many years, David I. Harvie reveals the determination, struggle and drama which characterised the life of this talented man.

The Eiffel Tower was proposed as the centrepiece for the World Exhibition of 1889, yet the moment the plans were unveiled they were greeted with a storm of protests. An influential Artists' Protest was vocal in its criticism; Eiffel became involved in an extended argument with Charles Garnier, architect of the Paris Opera; and satirists had a field day. Robust in his defence of the tower, Eiffel had the last laugh: when completed, the tower became an instant favourite and a moneyspinner. Yet, at the moment of his triumph, scandal beckoned. While the tower was being built Eiffel had signed contracts for the biggest and riskiest project of his life - the construction of the locks for the Panama Canal. In 1889 the canal company was plunged into liquidation due to mismanagement. Eiffel was charged with breach of trust and swindling and sentenced to two years' imprisonment. Although cleared on appeal, the engineer from Dijon never quite recovered from the personal indignity of the scandal. The man who had designed and built aqueducts and bridges throughout the world turned his back on engineering and embarked on an equally illustrious career in the study of aerodynamics.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David I. Harvie is a freelance film editor, and a regular contributor of feature on history and social history to newspapers and magazines. His previous books include 'Limeys' (Sutton 2002), and he lives in Dumbarton, Scotland.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: The History Press; 1St Edition edition (January 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0750933089
• ISBN-13: 978-0750933087
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,642,712 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars engineer of dreams, May 14, 2007

By 

Dr. P. R. Lewis "truth hound" (England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eiffel: The Genius Who Reinvented Himself (Paperback)

We owe Eiffel a great debt just for his Paris tower, but who has heard of his stupendous viaduct at Garabit? His works should be more widely know and this new biography goes some way down that path. It is a well researched book, and exposes much about him as a methodical and systematic engineer who created structures of outstanding beauty and integrity. And he cared about the workers who actually built his designs, a rarity in Victorian times. The book can be criticised for being too brief about his achievements, especially the engineering principles which guided him through his career. And the illustrations are frustratingly sparse and unimaginative for his creations. Some of the early works, for example, are the dramatic viaducts on the Gannat railway, and surely deserve modern pictures (they are still standing and still carrying trains). The book deserves a wide readership, but the defintive bio of Eiffel has yet to be written.

1.0 out of 5 stars Incoherent, August 1, 2009

By 

Will (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eiffel: The Genius Who Reinvented Himself (Hardcover)

I have one piece of advice for this author: keep yourself to magazine articles. This book suffers from a severe lack of coherency, choppy flow and is a major pain to read. Assuming the facts stated in each sentence are accurate, one needs to take every sentence as a unit and not expect any kind of meaningful transition between different sentences, let alone different paragraphs. If you want to know how a badly written history book reads, here is one for you.

5.0 out of 5 stars It's the perfect pick for a general-interest lending library collection., December 11, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eiffel: The Genius Who Reinvented Himself (Paperback)

Eiffel: The Genius Who Reinvented Himself isn't just for history buffs: it's an excellent survey of an architect's unique challenges producing a tower which combined the needs of art and industry alike, and as such will appeal beyond history audiences into the arts. Those who know little about Eiffel other than his associations with his famous tower will be fascinated to learn of his collaboration on the Statue of Liberty and the locks for the French Panama Canal, as well as other endeavors. It's the perfect pick for a general-interest lending library collection.

Diane C. Donovan

California Bookwatch