As of late, audiobooks have been my choice when I have long, nonfiction reads. It’s pretty easy to put them on and let the story unfold as I do something else, usually my diamond painting or folding laundry. David McCullough is one of the authors I’m partial to in the audio format.

The story of the Brooklyn Bridge is a marvel of engineering and navigating the politics of the age. I was born in New York City and raised just outside of it. I vaguely knew some of the stories surrounding it, many of which McCullough talks about in The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge. McCullough addresses all of the stories that arose surrounding the building of the bridge as well as the politics and debunks several long-held misconceptions.

McCullough tells the story not just of the building of the bridge, but also of New York City in a way. I knew of Tammany Hall and the corrupt politicians of the era, but more in theory than actual facts. McCullough details how the Irish immigrants fought to have a voice in the City which led to the evolution of the Tammany bosses. He also reaches back into the history of the Roebling family. John Roebling was a German engineer who immigrated to the United States looking for paradise. Instead, he formed a metal wire company out of Trenton, New Jersey, and began building bridges.

John Roebling set his eyes on building a suspension bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan. At the time, there were few suspension bridges in the country, and several that had been built had failed. Roebling spent a long time convincing City and State Officials that he could do it. There were some public funds involved as well as private investments. However, before any meaningful construction could begin. John Roebling died as the result of a tetanus infection and his strange medical opinions. His son, Washington Roebling, then became the chief engineer of the project.

McCullough gives incredible detail into the building of the bridge, particularly what went into building the two caissons which allowed for the construction underwater of the bridge supports. His father’s original design was followed, which gives the bridge the unique beauty that still exists today. It was during this part of the construction that workers began suffering from “caisson sickness” which we now call The Bends. Eventually, Washington Roebling began to suffer from it as well. In his case, it was particularly debilitating. He ended up using his wife, Emily Warren Roebling, as a runner between the workers at the Bridge and his sickbed, leading to rumors that she was acting as Chief Engineer in his place.

First published in 1972, The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge gave readers a lot of information about the bridge that was unknown at the time. McCullough meticulously researched the project, discovering Roebling’s papers stored away and forgotten at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. McCullough’s research is why so much is known about the construction of the bridge. Without this book, there would not be other books or documentaries on the topic.

McCullough himself recorded a new introduction to the audiobook, where he includes how important the image of the Brooklyn Bridge was in the aftermath of 9/11. There are plenty of side stories and anecdotes that make the story of the building of the bridge extremely interesting.

Nelson Runger has recorded the narration for other McCullough books I’ve read and he’s excellent at it. He doesn’t inflect too much and make it feel like he’s imparting his own spin on the story. He’s a factual reader who conveys the story without background noise. At the same time, he generates the appropriate emotions needed for the story. This is particularly the case when talking about the remarkably few death which occurred during the construction of the bridge as well as the Roebling family tragedies.

Even if you haven’t lived in or around New York City, I think the audiobook of The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge is something you’ll find enjoyable. It harkens back to a time when simply building a bridge was considered a miracle, and explains how so much we now take for granted in terms of transportation came to be.