Eiffel's tower and the World's Fair where Buffalo Bill beguiled Paris, the artists quarreled, and Thomas Edison became a count

About this book

The story of the world-famous monument and the extraordinary worlds fair that introduced itSince it opened in May 1889, the Eiffel Tower has been an iconic image of modern timesas much a beacon of technological progress as an enduring symbol of Paris and French culture. But as engineer Gustave Eiffel built the now-famous landmark to be the spectacular centerpiece of the 1889 Worlds Fair, he stirred up a storm of vitriol from Parisian tastemakers, lawsuits, and predictions of certain structural calamity.In Eiffels Tower, Jill Jonnes, critically acclaimed author of Conquering Gotham, presents a compelling account of the towers creation and a superb portrait of Belle Epoque France. As Eiffel held court that summer atop his one-thousand-foot tower, a remarkable host of artists and personalitiesBuffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, Gauguin, Whistler, and Edisontraveled to Paris and the Exposition Universelle to mingle and make their mark.Like The Devil in the White City, Brunelleschis Dome, and David McCulloughs accounts of the building of the Panama Canal and the Brooklyn Bridge, Eiffels Tower combines technological and social history and biography to create a richly textured portrayal of an age of aspiration, dreams, and progress.