London Bridge in America: The Tall Story of a Transatlantic Crossing

Used
Hardcover
2013
$4.18

In 1968 the world's largest antique went to America. But how do you transport a 130-year-old bridge 3,000 miles? And why did Robert P. McCulloch, a multimillionaire oil baron and chainsaw-manufacturing king, buy it? Why did he ship it to a waterless patch of the Arizonan desert? Did he even get the right bridge? To answer these questions, it's necessary to meet a peculiar cast. It includes: Fleet Street shysters; Revolutionary Radicals; Frock-coated industrialists; Disneyland designers; Thames dockers; Guinness Book of Records officials; The odd Lord Mayor; Bridge-building priests; Gun-toting U.S. sheriffs; An Apache Indian or two. And a fraudster whose greatest trick was to convince the world he ever existed. Roll up, then, for the story of one of the strangest events in Anglo-American relations. Curious, clever and sharp, this is history to delight in.

Synopsis

In 1968 the world's largest antique went to America. But how do you transport a 130-year-old bridge 3,000 miles? And why did Robert P. McCulloch, a multimillionaire oil baron and chainsaw-manufacturing king, buy it? Why did he ship it to a waterless patch of the Arizonan desert? Did he even get the right bridge? To answer these questions, it's necessary to meet a peculiar cast. It includes: Fleet Street shysters; Revolutionary Radicals; Frock-coated industrialists; Disneyland designers; Thames dockers; Guinness Book of Records officials; The odd Lord Mayor; Bridge-building priests; Gun-toting U.S. sheriffs; An Apache Indian or two. And a fraudster whose greatest trick was to convince the world he ever existed. Roll up, then, for the story of one of the strangest events in Anglo-American relations. Curious, clever and sharp, this is history to delight in.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 288
Edition: 1st Edition
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Published: 07 Feb 2013
ISBN 10: 0224096257
ISBN 13: 9780224096256
Book Overview: A brilliantly entertaining look at just what happened when London Bridge was sold and shipped to America.

Media Reviews

Wonderfully detailed... A fitting testament to the folly and wonder of human endeavour. -- Claire Looby Irish Times Elborough's book is a fascinating mix of social and architectural history, travelogue and pop culture, but it is his ability to bring to life the disparate and often eccentric characters involved in the story that stands out. -- Ian Critchley Sunday Times An entertaining cultural historian of the Bill Bryson school...very interesting, and crammed with historical trivia. -- Helen Brown Daily Telegraph A style perfectly poised between the flourishes of fiction and simple matters of fact... On the evidence of London Bridge in America, it would probably be justifiable now to proclaim Elborough one of Britain's finest pop cultural historians. -- Ian Sansom Guardian Travis Elborough tells this glorious story with warmth and humour and a great wide-open spirit... Delightful. -- Markus Berkmann Daily Mail

Author Bio

Travis Elborough is the author of three acclaimed books, The Bus We Loved, a history of the Routemaster bus; The Long Player Goodbye, which lamented the passing of vinyl; and Wish You Were Here, a history of the British beside the sea. He regularly appears on Radio 4 and writes for the Guardian.