The Tallest Tower: Eiffel and the Belle Epoque

Gustave Eiffel's magnificent feat of engineering, the Eiffel Tower stands as the world's most recognised landmark and the celebrated symbol of Paris. Built as the centrepiece of the Paris Universal Exposition of 1889, it also commemorated the French Revolution of 1789. At 1,000 feet, it represented a high point of the technology of the day, the tallest structure ever built by man until then. Not everyone liked it. Artists and intellectuals like Guy de Maupassant and Alexandre Dumas fils scorned it as a metal monster that would scar the skyline of the world's most beautiful city. Nearby residents feared that it would topple onto their homes. Richly illustrated with historical documents, this is a fascinating and informative look at the tower, the genius of its engineer, and the socio-economic context that made it the icon of an age. "An interesting story interestingly told."—The New York Times. "Certainly the best biography of a building and the cultural climate which spawned it we've read in a very long time."—Kirkus Reviews