The Great Bridge

The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge

By: David McCullough

Narrated by: Edward Herrmann

First published in 1972, The Great Bridge is the classic account of one of the greatest engineering feats of all time: the building of the Brooklyn Bridge.

This monumental audiobook, which presents extended unabridged passages from the book, brings back a heroic vision of the America we once had. It is the enthralling story of one of the greatest events during the Age of Optimism, a period when Americans were convinced that all great things were possible.

In the years around 1870, the concept of building a great bridge to span the East River between the cities of Manhattan and Brooklyn required a vision and determination comparable to that which went into the building of the pyramids. Throughout the fourteen years of the bridge's construction, the odds against its successful completion seemed staggering. Bodies were crushed and broken, lives were lost, political empires fell, and surges of public emotion constantly threatened the project. But this is not merely the saga of an engineering miracle: it is a sweeping narrative of the heroes and rascals who had a hand in either constructing or obstructing this great enterprise.

©1972 David McCullough (P)2004 Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The Great Bridge is a book so compelling and complete as to be a literary monument....McCullough has written that sort of work which brings us to the human center of the past." (Los Angeles Times)

Great Book - Abridged POORLY

I would read and/or listen to anything David McCullough wrote - and I have. Edward Herrmann
is one of the best narrators.
Why did Audible do such a poor job of abridging this fine work? It goes along for a while and then
is chopped up and reworded and has a change of narrator.
I'll just go back to reading the "Real" book. The Audible edition is very disappointing.

A must for any architect or engineet

An absolutely monumental and spanning history of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. A wonderful text for any student of architecture, engineering or the postbellum United States.

Typical McCullough

A good author can make the most boring story exciting. McCullough is a great author and the actual story of the bridge is not very interesting. That said, this is an interesting read because McCullough can fit the story into the times and into the people who built the bridge. The only reason I did not give this a 5 rating is because the book fails to explain the interesting technical details of bridge building. For example, in House, when the author talks about nails, he does a interesting technical history of nails, but here, when McCullough talks about wire, there is NO historical perspective, nor is there any about the engineering that goes into the bridge. Remember, this was at a time there was no computers or other mechanical aids to make bridges. That aside, the book is worth the read

Fascinating History

A wonderfully entertaining and fascinating insight into the major characters of the America of the 1800 both before and after the Civil War. The almost impossibly strong-willed father and son who designed and built the great Brooklyn Bridge, the overwhelming graft and corruption that was the Democrat Party of New York and Tammany Hall, the technical issues and problems overcome in producing one of the great monuments of American technology and architecture - all of these are drawn in a wonderful tale.

The men and women who were involved in the great project come alive in the narrative. This is a very engrossing tale that immediately catches your imagination by clearly outlining the project, the issues, the technology, and the intriguing politics of the time. There were many things that I learned from this wonderful book.

The narration is very entertainingly done and in all ways this is an outstanding example of history, of story-telling, and of a wonderful audiobook. Highly recommended for anyone - not just history buffs.

best narrator

Edward Herrmann is the best narrator that I've listened to on Audible my only wish is that he would do more titles

Great Bridge was never finished - poor download!

McCullough does a great job setting the history & background - but this book is abridged (not available in Unabridged) and you will miss a great deal of the wheeling & dealing that went on. Also, I didn't get the full down load even though I downloaded twice - so, the bridge was never finished in my version.

Great Historical view of the Men and their Bridge

What made the experience of listening to The Great Bridge the most enjoyable?

The wonderful presentation of the Story by Edward Hermann who, like you might know, excels at storytelling of Major historical events or anything else, as only HE can.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Washington Roebling is my favorite character, being the Son of the Great John Roebling and taking over to complete the monumental task no matter what he encountered in doing so.

What does Edward Herrmann bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His manner of speaking and inflection adds so much to the story. It's like he was there and relaying what he'd experienced and saw for himself while knowing each character intimately. Awesome.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

There were happy and sad moments of course.

Any additional comments?

I would recommend this book to anyone.

David McCullough stands alone in making history bo

What did you love best about The Great Bridge?

The detail and nuances of building such a monumental structure, told in a very informative and entertaining way.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Great Bridge?

The political maneuvering to get the bridge built.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It made me want to drive a little further to see what was going to develop in the next chapter!

Any additional comments?

David McCullough is simply an excellent writer.

first rate

Terrific story of the Brooklyn Bridge...from idea through completion. Along with the histrionics of the project, you get a firm understanding of how the bridge works, and why it is still going strong after over a hundred years.

Audiobooks can't get better than this

The writing of David McCullough is great by itself. But, when paired with the melodic voice of Edward Hermann, the audio experience is at its best.

McCullough's narrative is an excellent and descriptive telling of this important story. An added benefit of this particular book is that McCullough sets the bridge into its broader historic context by mentioning other events contemporary to it.

Again, and I can't emphasize this enough, audiobooks cannot get better than this.