Hoover Dam: An American Adventure
In the spring of 1931, in a rugged desert canyon on the Arizona-Nevada border, an army of workmen began one of the most difficult and daring building projects ever undertaken—the construction of Hoover Dam. Through the worst years of the Great Depression as many as five thousand laborers toiled twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, to erect the huge structure that would harness the Colorado River and transform the American West.\ Construction of the giant dam was a triumph of human...
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Hoover Dam: An American Adventure is a pure marvel of scholarship and storytelling—history in the grand style.—(P.H. Watkins, Editor, Wilderness)
\ Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly\ Hoover Dam was the supreme engineering feat of its time (1931-1935), a triumph of American ingenuity and technology. More than half a century later, even with bigger and more sophisticated dams, it remains the benchmark, the granddaddy of big dams, yet this is the first full story of Hoover Dam from conception through construction to completion. Stevens has written a riveting history that reads like a novel; he captures our attention at the beginning and holds it throughout. Here is a powerful evocation of Depression times, of shantytowns in the desert, of hazardous working conditions. Stevens shows us men working in superheated tunnels permeated with carbon monoxide and daredevil scalers high on the canyon walls. We meet the chief field engineer Frank Crowe, who got the project completed two years ahead of schedule; officers of the Six Companies who gambled on the feasibility of building the dam and won; Sims Ely, dictator of the government town, Boulder City; and much of the labor force. Stevens lays to rest the lore that workers are buried in concrete; while the accident rate was high, bodies were always recovered. Superb Americana. Photos. (June)\ \ \ \ \ Library JournalThis fine monograph about the building of Hoover Dam tells the story from design through construction and opening of the massive structure. Stevens successfully integrates the engineering history with the social history of the work force, persuasively arguing for the importance of the dam in transforming the Southwest and Southern California. Thorough research and brisk writing keep the narrative well-paced and interesting to general readers. Photos are incorporated within the text. The only fault is the book's uncritical view of the intensive development of western rivers. Readers might wish to contrast Stevens's celebratory picture of dam builders with Donald Worster's pessimistic view ( Rivers of Empire , LJ 2/1/86). James W. Oberly, Univ. of Wisconsin, Eau Claire\ \ \ BooknewsNovelist Auchincloss presents selections from the diaries of Philip Hone and George Templeton Strong, adding biographical details and pairing entries with relevant Currier and Ives illustrations. Elegantly produced for--as the jacket copy asserts-- buff A history of an extraordinary effort--the hazards faced by work crews, political battles, and violent labor unrest. A reprint of the fine 1988 original. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR booknews.com\ \
