Bridges: A History of the World's Most Famous and Important Spans

Bridges is more than a picture book, however. Dupré presents a chronological collection of more than 45 bridges, from early Roman aqueducts to the most recent accomplishments of this century. Each bridge is accompanied by text that, together with the photos, provides the reader with informative background, anecdotes, and cultural and historical context. For fact seekers, the relevant names and numbers are readily accessible. For the parents of inquisitive children, "cantilever" will roll from the tongue as easily as "tension" and "torsion."

Dupré quietly proclaims in her introduction, "The unassuming poetry of bridges reveals itself to those who would see them." The author manages to convey this very poetry by giving us the tools to understand the power and grace of the bridge.

Product Description
Written by the same author/designer team who produced Skyscrapers, this book is a spectacle of stone, steel, wood and concrete portrayed in a unique and imposing size--page spreads open up to a full yard. All the world's great bridges are dazzlingly presented and described, from the ancient Roman Pont du Gard to London's Tower Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Tsing Ma Suspension Bridge in Hong Kong. 200 photos.

But as she shows in her book "Skyscrapers," there is an intertwining of form and function, and where man built up in buildings, he builds out via bridges. The book's design even emphasizes - where Skyscrapers was an extremely tall and thin book, Bridges goes for width, to try and bring the spans into the range of the printed page. Yet so often, the task is not possible, and even on the wide pages the bridge disappears into the distance.

The book looks at the engineering involved, but does not dwell on it. Rather it celebrates how the improvement of engineering practices have been able to move man forward. A veritable love poem to something that we often take too much for granted.


"Bridges" "Skyscrapers" "Churches"   February 22, 2001
Lucano (CT USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

"Bridges" was the first of the uniquely-designed, well-written books by Judith Dupre' that I discovered. "Skyscrapers" then became a 'must-have' and now I'm eagerly awaiting publication of her "Churches" - these books contain marvelous black and white photo collections of subjects around the world, with a succinct and intriguing text about each. They invite repeated perusals, and I keep them, in their handsome jackets, where I can see and enjoy them again and again. Often, when I have a few moments, I like to reflect on the historical descriptions of these wonderous man-made miracles and re-study the photos. Of special interest may be the structures which one in fact has seen, perhaps many times. The books are well-indexed and provided with suggestions for further reading.


A bridge lover   December 19, 2000
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

I was a little disappointed in this book in that it really doesn't get into much detail about any of the bridges which are discussed. It's more of a "coffe table" book without out much informative depth. Nothing to really sink your teeth into. However, if you're not already familiar with any of the bridges covered in the book, or you're not a nut for bridges, then this book is a great introduction to a few of the most beautiful bridges to be seen. One neat thing that I did really like is that it is a very wide book which allows you a little better perspective of the true size of some of the bridges - you get long pictures instead of little ones of each bridge. That was kind of cool! My 5 yr old son loves "reading" this book to me!