Colossal

The Suez Canal came first, in 1869; the Panama Canal, last, in 1914; in between in rapid succession, came the Statue of Liberty, 1886, and the Eiffel Tower, 1889. Brilliant, counterintutive, 'Colossal' shows that these awesome monoliths - each usually seen alone as a wonder - have a single, tightly entwined history. Three Frenchmen - Ferdinand de Lesseps, Gustave Eiffel, and Frederic Auguste Bartholdi - were the moving spirits behind the four enterprises. Firsthand experience of the giant monuments of Ancient Egypt shaped the vast ambition of these men. They shared as well as fervid belief that modern materials and technologies would enable them to rival the builder of the Pharoahs. As 'Colossal' follows the paths of the three Frenchmen and the fates of their visionary projects, it tells a spellbinding story that happens also to be an entirely new sociopolitical and cultural history of engineering. The illustrations in this book are fascinating records of building projects that did change he world. Darcy Grigsby is a gifted writer, equally adept at explaining the intricacies of scale drawing and 19th century nationalism. 'Colossal' is a book for the general reader as well as specialists in the history of art and architecture.