Eiffel’s Tower for Young People

Jill Jonnes

Eiffel's Tower for Young People is a vivid, lively pageant of people and cultures meeting-and competing-on the world stage at the dawn of the modern era.The 1889 World's Fair was a worldwide event showcasing the cutting-edge cultural and technological accomplishments of the world's most powerful nations on the verge of a new century. France, with its long history of sophistication and cultivation and a new republican government, presented the Eiffel Tower, the world's tallest structure, crafted from eighteen thousand pieces of wrought iron and 2.5 million rivets, as a symbol of national pride and engineering superiority. The United States, with its brash, can-do spirit, full of pride in its frontier and its ingenuity, presented the rollicking Wild West show of Buffalo Bill Cody and Annie Oakley, and the marvelous new phonograph of Thomas Edison.With historical photos throughout, outsized personalities, squabbling artists, and a sprinkling of royalty, this dramatic history opens a window to a piece of the past that, in its passions and politics, is an unforgettable portrait of a unique moment in history.

List of CharactersChapter 1: Showdown in ParisChapter 2: Eiffel Under AttackChapter 3: Troubles on the TowerChapter 4: Going Up!Chapter 5: A Grand OpeningChapter 6: Two TriumphsChapter 7: Americans Meet the WorldChapter 8: Art WarsChapter 9: The Fourth of JulyChapter 10: Monarchs of the WorldChapter 11: Edison’s AdventureChapter 12: Last DaysChapter 13: After the FairImage CreditsIndex