London Bridge in America
The Tall Story of a Transatlantic CrossingSelect a format:
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Summary
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.
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.
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.
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.
Reviews
As much a social history as the story of the bridge, this entertaining book is packed with facts but its light, sprightly tone makes bricks and mortar a source of human interest.
Sally Morris, Daily Mail
