Twin Towers:: The Life of New York City's Trade Center

A Great History of the Twin Towers !!

Love the front cover design on this book

Twin Towers is one of the few successful endeavors to capture the spirit of the World Trade Center. It is not a photo album, and it only contains a few black and white figures. Nevertheless, it gives a comprehensive description of all aspects of the Trade Center project, from the political motivation that lead to its construction to the way architectural trends evolved in the seventies and caused the Twin Towers to be despised by most architects. It also depicts the Port Authority as an ambitious success-driven and proud agency and the Twin Towers as an American icon. Given his biases, the author does not linger too much on the grievances of the tenants that were dislodged from the WTC site to allow its construction nor does he question the legitimity of such a project. He merely states the facts: progress is mercyless. The colorful style of the book makes it easy to read and anecdotes and quotes of some of the people who actually participated to the construction of the center abound. What can be regretted is the book's absence of cohesion at times: it seems like each chapter has been written separately, resulting in numerous repetitions from chapter to chapter. Twin Towers also looses some marks for its endless description of the author's attendance to an introductory course to world trade, which could have been better incorporated within the text. Overall, the merit of Twin Towers is that through the pages of the book, the reader discovers the World Trade Center through the eyes of those who were directly involved with its construction; the grievance is that this is mosly a Port Authoriry's view of the World Trade Center project.

Lacked pictures of World Trade Center. Would have allowed you to not just read about the WTC, but also see what you were reading about. For example, I would have liked to have seen a picture of the Austin Tobin Plaza relative to the buildings. Pictures of the PATH and Subway stations should have also been provided relative to the Concourse. Nonetheless, it was an excellent read.

The book has arrived in a more-than-good status. The product should have arrived in 2 weeks, but after 48h from Kentucy (USA) it arrives in my home in Venice (ITA) Good book for have 20 years of age

It's certainly possible to write a brilliant, riveting book that looks in depth at the design, construction, operation, and cultural significance of a major civil engineering project. I know it's possible, because Angus Kress Gillespie (along with a co-author whose name escapes me) has already written one about the New Jersey Turnpike. The Turnpike Book was brilliant, but _Twin Towers_ is no more than good. It covers its intended subjects with clarity and precision, but (unlike the Turnpike book), I was never particularly driven to push on to the next section. Partly, I think, the problem is familiarity. Most of us are a lot less familiar with the history and inner workings of a major highway than with the inner workings of a major skyscraper. There's something fascinating about listening to an expert explain, layer by layer, the hidden mysteries of some overly familiar piece of the everyday world. It's harder to do that with the World Trade Center because--to some extent--we *do* know about very tall buildings and what they're like. Part of the problem, too, may be a basic difference of opinion between Gillespie and I. He clearly thinks that the WTC is a beautiful structure, and one that the architectural establishment (which hates it) hasn't given a fair shake. I'm not an architect, but I never liked it much either. Despite his best efforts, I *still* don't like it that much, and by about halfway through the book, his praise of it was beginning to wear thin. Gillespie is a clear and graceful writer (if only he could stop saying "as we shall see" so often he'd be even better), and he makes the complex comprehensible. If the idea of a book about the inner workings of one of the world's tallest buildings intrigues you, then _Twin Towers_ is well worth checking out.

Well... I only heard about twin towers and was interested in learning more so i went to look for books and i saw this one and i was happy and i bought it and i started reading it and it was very interested i recommend u buy this book and read to a kid because my older 10 year old daughter got on her phone and absolutly LOVED. It. :)

Excellent read and history of these NYC icons.

Libro tutto da leggere: dalla scarsa descrizione del prodotto su Amazon da cui non si intuiva come era fatto, ho scoperto che è solo testo Per me che sono amante dei libri fotografici.. una delusione: è al 95% tutto scritto, in inglese per giunta, con solo un paio di pagine di fotografie in bianco e nero al centro..

Very interesting

This is a must for anyone with an interest in the background and construction of the World Trade Center. Gillespie has certainly done his homework and the book has a brilliant flow. The personal protectives of those involved in the process from conception to completion give this book that human touch. Also, not being much if reader, the layout, flow and jargon isn't too heavy. Well worth it.

An absorbing book for admirers of the noble structures that stood at the southernmost tip of Manhattan until their unfortunate demise in 2001.

more than a decade after the fall of the twin Towers it is useful and more than neccessary. Even in an over-informed society such background information is still a Need.