Customer Reviews

The Eiffel Tower

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love The Eiffel Tower. I'm amazed that iron can be so beautiful. This is a must have book for anyone that feels the way I do. No stone is left unturned in this book. I now know everything about the Eiffel Tower and love it even more. Beautiful photographs. Excellent information. I love this book.

I have to confess to initially being a little disappointed with this book. As mentioned above it's certainly a lot smaller than I expected. There is no text as such, but a short "introduction" runs through the salient facts regarding the Tower and it's construction, but it's certainly not an in depth treatment by any means. The black and white photos are rather a mixed bag. Some are indeed quite visually stunning and taken from unusual angles, ....however others are reproduced in such very low definition as to be so fuzzy that they are unacceptable to modern viewers used to high definition clarity, ...even allowing for what is surely intended "artistic" effect. Another weakness is the lack of text pertaining to each individual photo. Several of the pictures contain what could be very interesting and puzzling details, but we are left wondering as they are neither labelled nor are we told the significance of these views at all. I found this to be a major flaw.
All that being said, there are certainly some excellent "moody" monochromatic shots of the tower, not your usual postcard views ...but if you are looking for a definitive study of Monsieur Eiffel's most wonderful creation , ...or a large format glossy coffee table work full of sharp pictures, this is certainly not it.
It's more of a compact, somewhat wistful little historical reflection of black and white photographic impressions by Lucien Herve from the 1930s onward.
Being an absolute Eiffel-Addict, ....I am certainly happy to add this book to my collection, but I am definitely looking further for a more definitive work on this most stunning structure.

I am impressed with this product, though it is a little bit smaller than I expected (I anticipated a coffee table book).