Rating: 
Summary: "Bridges" "Skyscrapers" "Churches"
Review: "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.
Rating:
Summary: "Bridges" "Skyscrapers" "Churches"
Review: "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.
Rating:
Summary: "Bridges" "Skyscrapers" "Churches"
Review: "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.
Rating:
Summary: A book to treasure
Review: 'Bridges' is an excellent book to have in your library. It also makes the perfect gift to give someone who has an interest in not just architecture, but history as well. It gives a brief history on each bridge together with very large high quality B/W photos. An excellent follow up from Dupre's first in the series 'Skyscapers'. I hope Judith Dupre is considering to continue the series with another book in the same style. A book on 'Stadiums' perhaps. If you loved 'Skyscrapers' you will find 'Bridges' just as rewarding, a must to add to your collection. Thanks Judith!
Rating:
Summary: Bridges is spectacular!
Review: As a history of the world's most famous & important spans this wide, wide book is a spectacular hit! Lots of details, fascinating photos & information. A must for those folks in your life who think bridges are the coolest!
Rating:
Summary: So often we don't even realize what we're driving on
Review: Every day we traverse bridges in our daily lives, scarcely to give them thought. Dupre pulls back the veil and brings highlight to these engineering feats. From the simple to the revolutionary, we are brought on a tour of bridges through time, and around the globe. The superlatives are here: the longest suspension bridge, highest, oldest. But it's not a book about the superlative; it's about what moves us forward in our quest for technology, and for our ability to move across space in a timely manner. It highlights those bridges that mean something to us: where the Romans said "let's make a permanent way of moving water." Where politics came into play and tried to prevent bridges that we can't imagine not being there like the Golden Gate Bridge. Bridges become important to history such as the ones over the Rhine during the World War. And sometimes when we make mistakes and things don't work out like we planned - the most spectacular example being the Tacoma Narrows Bridge that lasted all of 4 months. 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.
Rating: 
Summary: A bridge lover
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: A bridge lover
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Bridges All Over
Review: I've bought this book : it was love at first sight. Later,after recognizing the most significant bridges all over the world, newand old, with simple but interesting data and first quality photos I've recommended it to my friends and colleages. END
Rating: 
Summary: This book teaches us more about marketing than about bridges
Review: It reminds me of how they put together movies these days. Grab some stock photos, find a writer without any knowledge of the subject, put in a big name star who's irrelevant to the whole enterprise (Frank Gehry) and put it all together in a unique package (a long narrow book). Its all about packaging, and nothing about content. The book purports to be a history of the most famous and important bridge spans, but the few factoids that make it into print are usually wrong (even the most cursory peer reviewer would know that the San Francisco earthquake was in 1906 not 1909), and no one will be enlightened by the author's description of the Tacoma Narrows or San Francisco Bay bridge failures). What was particularly disconcerting was to read on the back page that the author, rather than being interested in her subject, is concerned with "exploring the interaction of text and image on the printed page." They don't even take advantage of the books unique length to show elevation views of its subjects. Rather, the stock photos are cropped to fit on a single page. I wish they would put Leonhardts books on bridges back in print. I'm sick of these feeble efforts that are all style and no content. Mark Yashinsky, Senior Bridge Engineer, California Department of Transportation
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