The Eiffel Tower: The History of Paris' Most Famous Landmark
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The Eiffel Tower: The History of Paris' Most Famous Landmark
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Narrated by:
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Maria Chester
About this listen
"Being the most striking manifestation of the art of metal structures by which our engineers have shown in Europe, it is one of the most striking of our modern national genius." - Gustave Eiffel
It's the home of kings, emperors, and aristocrats, and the home of the Champs-Élysées, the Bastille, the Louvre and the salons that fueled the Enlightenment. For foreigners like Benjamin Franklin, it was the most beautiful city in the world, and millions of people still visit those same sites every year. Known as the "City of Light," Paris seamlessly blends its rich past with all the trappings of a modern city, and the city's features and qualities are taken for granted today, but Paris was not always that way. In fact, it took nearly half a century of redesigning the city during the 19th century to transform it into the city it is today.
Though it may be hard to believe today, the Eiffel Tower was initially met with derision by many Frenchmen, some of whom compared it to the Tower of Babel and complained that the "useless and monstrous" structure would obscure treasures such as Notre Dame. In response to such criticisms, Eiffel himself pointed out, "Can one think that because we are engineers, beauty does not preoccupy us or that we do not try to build beautiful, as well as solid and long lasting structures? Aren't the genuine functions of strength always in keeping with unwritten conditions of harmony? Besides, there is an attraction, a special charm in the colossal to which ordinary theories of art do not apply."
It's safe to say that Eiffel was correct. Each year, millions of people refute those original notions by riding to the top and making it the most visited paid monument in the entire world. Indeed, the Eiffel Tower has welcomed over 250 million visitors in less than 130 years. Eiffel had the good fortune of being vindicated in his lifetime, and as he once joked, "I ought to be jealous of the tower. She is more famous than I am."
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-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 186
Brunelleschi's Dome is the story of how a Renaissance genius bent men, materials, and the very forces of nature to build an architectural wonder we continue to marvel at today. Denounced at first as a madman, Brunelleschi was celebrated at the end as a genius. He engineered the perfect placement of brick and stone, built ingenious hoists and cranes to carry an estimated 70 million pounds hundreds of feet into the air, and designed the workers' platforms and routines so carefully that only one man died during the decades of construction.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great history with terrible narration
- By Whiskey Mike on 12-16-21
By: Ross King
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Tesla
- Inventor of the Electrical Age
- By: W. Bernard Carlson
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 16 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 354
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 304
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Story4 out of 5 stars 303
Nikola Tesla was a major contributor to the electrical revolution that transformed daily life at the turn of the 20th century. His inventions, patents, and theoretical work formed the basis of modern AC electricity, and contributed to the development of radio and television. Like his competitor Thomas Edison, Tesla was one of America's first celebrity scientists, enjoying the company of New York high society and dazzling the likes of Mark Twain with his electrical demonstrations. An astute self-promoter and gifted showman, he cultivated a public image of the eccentric genius.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A detailed examination of Tesla's work
- By Jean on 02-01-14
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From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon
- By: Jules Verne
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 47
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
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Story4 out of 5 stars 38
Bored with inactivity following the end of the Civil War, the fanatical members of the American Gun Club in Baltimore look for a project to fulfill their passion for rearms. Their distinguished President, Impey Barbicane, proposes an exciting new endeavor - one that will cement their names in history: They will build the largest projectile ever known to man and shoot it at the moon! The bullet will be hollowed to accommodate Barbicane and two bold companions, along with their dog, and they will claim the moon as America's 37th state.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Earth to Moon
- By PJL0815 on 04-15-20
By: Jules Verne
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A Crack in the Edge of the World
- America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 587
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 330
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 326
San Francisco Earthquake that leveled a city symbolic of America's relentless western expansion. Simon Winchester has also fashioned an enthralling and informative informative look at the tumultuous subterranean world that produces earthquakes, the planet's most sudden and destructive force. In the early morning hours of April 18, 1906, San Francisco and a string of towns to its north-northwest and the south-southeast were overcome by an enormous shaking that was compounded by the violent shocks of an earthquake, registering 8.25 on the Richter scale.
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2 out of 5 stars
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7 Hours and 45 minutes . . .
- By Tim on 12-09-05
By: Simon Winchester
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Longitude
- The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time
- By: Dava Sobel
- Narrated by: Kate Reading, Neil Armstrong
- Length: 4 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,257
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,071
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,071
In 1714, England's Parliament offered a huge reward to anyone whose method of measuring longitude could be proven successful. The scientific establishment--from Galileo to Sir Isaac Newton--had mapped the heavens in its certainty of a celestial answer. In stark contrast, one man, John Harrison, dared to imagine a mechanical solution--a clock that would keep precise time at sea, something no clock had been able to do on land. And the race was on....
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5 out of 5 stars
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To hear Neil Armstongs Voice
- By Boots on 01-19-13
By: Dava Sobel
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Brilliant Beacons
- A History of the American Lighthouse
- By: Eric Jay Dolin
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 42
Set against the backdrop of an expanding nation, Brilliant Beacons traces the evolution of America's lighthouse system, highlighting the political, military, and technological battles fought to illuminate the nation's hardscrabble coastlines.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great book about Lighthouses
- By Anastasia on 04-25-21
By: Eric Jay Dolin
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The Path Between the Seas
- The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 31 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,470
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,171
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,172
The Path Between the Seas tells the story of the men and women who fought against all odds to fulfill the 400-year-old dream of constructing an aquatic passageway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is a story of astonishing engineering feats, tremendous medical accomplishments, political power plays, heroic successes, and tragic failures. McCullough expertly weaves the many strands of this momentous event into a captivating tale.
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4 out of 5 stars
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No Stone Unturned
- By Tim on 06-25-13
By: David McCullough
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Higher
- A Historic Race to the Sky and the Making of a City
- By: Neal Bascomb
- Narrated by: Richard M. Davidson
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 140
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 57
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 58
This riveting, true account of the 1929 race to build New York City's tallest skyscraper evokes the glory of an exciting time long past.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Outstanding Audio Book!!!
- By Tim on 11-16-05
By: Neal Bascomb
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American Eclipse
- A Nation's Epic Race to Catch the Shadow of the Moon and Win the Glory of the World
- By: David Baron
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 77
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 72
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Story4 out of 5 stars 72
In the scorching summer of 1878, with the Gilded Age in its infancy, three tenacious and brilliant scientists raced to Wyoming and Colorado to observe a rare total solar eclipse. One sought to discover a new planet. Another - an adventuresome female astronomer - fought to prove that science was not anathema to femininity. And a young megalomaniacal inventor, with the tabloid press fast on his heels, sought to test his scientific bona fides and light the world through his revelations.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Just OK.
- By Melanie A Hwalek on 09-18-17
By: David Baron
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Chief Engineer
- Washington Roebling, the Man Who Built the Brooklyn Bridge
- By: Erica Wagner
- Narrated by: Jo Anna Perrin
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 47
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 40
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
His father conceived of the Brooklyn Bridge, but after John Roebling's sudden death, Washington Roebling built what has become one of American's most iconic structures - as much a part of New York as the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building. Yet, as recognizable as the bridge is, its builder is too often forgotten - and his life is of interest far beyond his chosen field. It is the story of immigrants, of the frontier, of the greatest crisis in American history, and of the making of the modern world.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Monumental
- By charles mueller on 07-09-19
By: Erica Wagner
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The Map That Changed the World
- William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 681
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 442
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 445
In 1793 William Smith, a canal digger, made a startling discovery that was to turn the fledgling science of the history of the earth - and a central plank of established Christian religion - on its head. He noticed that the rocks he was excavating were arranged in layers; more important, he could see quite clearly that the fossils found in one layer were very different from those found in another. And out of that realization came an epiphany.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Who knew rocks could be so deceptive?
- By Jody R. Nathan on 11-09-04
By: Simon Winchester
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Technology of the Gods
- The Incredible Sciences of the Ancients
- By: David Hatcher Childress
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 430
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 364
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 364
Popular Lost Cities author David Hatcher Childress takes us into the amazing world of ancient technology, from computers in antiquity to the flying machines of the gods. Childress looks at the technology that was allegedly used in Atlantis and the theory that the Great Pyramid of Egypt was originally a gigantic power station. He examines tales of ancient flight and the technology that it involved; how the ancients used electricity; megalithic building techniques; the use of crystal lenses and the fire from the gods; and more.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Very insightful
- By Hagood on 03-20-18
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Wilbur and Orville
- A Biography of the Wright Brothers
- By: Fred Howard
- Narrated by: Larry McKeever
- Length: 21 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 105
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 65
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 66
The Wrights' longest flight in 1903 covered 852 feet and lasted 59 seconds. In 1905, Wilbur flew 24 miles in 38 minutes and the issue was no longer how to fly but how to cash in. Their effort to exploit their invention is a suspense story of the best kind; their voyage into flight and into American history is a gripping tale from takeoff to landing.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Interesting but not hard to put down...
- By James on 03-17-12
By: Fred Howard
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Chernobyl 01:23:40
- The Incredible True Story of the World's Worst Nuclear Disaster
- By: Andrew Leatherbarrow
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,019
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 899
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 898
At 01:23:40 on April 26th 1986, Alexander Akimov pressed the emergency shutdown button at Chernobyl's fourth nuclear reactor. It was an act that forced the permanent evacuation of a city, killed thousands, and crippled the Soviet Union. The event spawned decades of conflicting, exaggerated, and inaccurate stories.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Lost in his own navel
- By Christopher on 10-17-16
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Thoughts and Adventures
- By: Winston Churchill
- Narrated by: Barnaby Edwards
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
This wide ranging collection of essays allows the contemporary reader to grasp the extraordinary variety and depth of the statesman's mature thoughts on questions, both grave and gay, facing modern man. Churchill begins by asking what it would be like to live your life over again and ends by describing his love affair with painting. In between he touches on subjects as diverse as spies, cartoons, submarines, elections, flying, and the future.
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5 out of 5 stars
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He is such a lively writer
- By W. Forrest on 07-15-23
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Periodic Tales
- A Cultural History of the Elements, From Arsenic to Zinc
- By: Hugh Aldersey-Williams
- Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 535
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 474
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Story4 out of 5 stars 475
Like the alphabet, the calendar, or the zodiac, the periodic table of the chemical elements has a permanent place in our imagination. But aside from the handful of common ones (iron, carbon, copper, gold), the elements themselves remain wrapped in mystery. We do not know what most of them look like, how they exist in nature, how they got their names, or of what use they are to us.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Interesting but Rambling
- By Carolyn on 08-24-15
What listeners say about The Eiffel Tower: The History of Paris' Most Famous Landmark
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Shesgotmmph
- 10-12-18
Content Excellent but Narrator AWFUL!
The book would be wonderful because of the rich imagery but the narrator, Maria Chester, in my opinion, makes it intolerable and even painful to listen. She mispronounces many words, for example, she pronounces the word architecture, as “archi-texture”.
Her intonation is monotonous.
I will be avoiding anything narrated by this person in the future.
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