Eiffel's Tower: And the World's Fair Where Buffalo Bill Beguiled Paris, Theartists Quarreled, and Thomas Edison Became a Count Hardback - 2009

by Jill Jonnes

The story of the world-famousmonument and the extraordinaryworld's fair that introduced itSince it opened in May 1889, the Eiffel Tower hasbeen an iconic image of modern times-as much a beaconof technological progress as an enduring symbolof Paris and French culture. But as engineer GustaveEiffel built the now-famous landmark to be the spectacularcenterpiece of the 1889 World's Fair, he stirredup a storm of vitriol from Parisian tastemakers, lawsuits,and predictions of certain structural calamity.In Eiffel's Tower, Jill Jonnes, critically acclaimedauthor of Conquering Gotham, presents a compellingaccount of the tower's creation and a superb portraitof Belle Epoque France. As Eiffel held court that summeratop his one-thousand-foot tower, a remarkablehost of artists and personalities-Buffalo Bill, AnnieOakley, Gauguin, Whistler, and Edison-traveled toParis and the Exposition Universelle to mingle andmake their mark.Like The Devil in the White City, Brunelleschi'sDome, and David McCullough's accounts of the buildingof the Panama Canal and the Brooklyn Bridge,Eiffel's Tower combines technological and social historyand biography to create a richly textured portrayal ofan age of aspiration, dreams, and progress.