Great Fortune
The Epic Of Rockefeller Center
Okrent, Daniel
Paperback
booksXYZ price: $11.04
$0.55 of your order (5%) will be donated to the school of your choice.
VIEW MORE BOOKS LIKE THIS ONE
BOOK SUMMARY
How wealth, ambition, and vision made midtown Manhattan into the heart of the world.
Submit a book reviewBOOK SYNOPSIS
Everything about the conception and creation of Rockefeller Center was outsized and wildly improbable. Launched in the teeth of the Depression, the most ambitious construction project since the Pyramids was the unintended result of a philanthropic gesture gone awry. But when it was finished, John D. Rockefeller Jr.'s accidental adventure redefined the very nature of an American city.
In this hugely appealing book, Daniel Okrent weaves together the themes of money, politics, art, architecture, business, and society to tell the story of the majestic suite of buildings that came to dominate the heart of midtown Manhattan and with it, for a time, the heart of the world. Richly detailed, frequently surprising, and consistently entertaining, Great Fortune brings this compelling saga to vivid life.
At the center of Daniel Okrent's riveting story are four remarkable individuals: John D. Rockefeller Jr., the timid son of the world's richest man, whose greatest accomplishment was a venture he never intended; his son Nelson, who before the age of twenty-five demonstrated his talent, his charm, and his ruthless ambition, shoving aside his older brother and an all-star roster of professionals to take control of this enormous enterprise; the rude, vain, and dazzlingly creative real estate genius John R. Todd, who could make an architect whimper in pain; and Raymond Hood, a scamp, a provocateur, a drinker - and the greatest skyscraper designer America has ever known.
AUTHOR BIO
Daniel Okrent is a prizewinning journalist, author, and television commentator. For many years he was a senior editorial executive at Time Inc. In 2003 he was appointed the first Public Editor of the New York Times.
BOOK REVIEWS
Delightful and exhaustive (but never exhausting)
the dazzling, complex story of how New Yorks acropolis came to be. (The Smithsonian)
FOR RELATED BOOKS
Biography & Autobiography Books :: Business Books
Architecture Books :: History Books
Architecture Books :: History Books :: General Books
Architecture Books :: Urban & Land Use Planning Books
History Books :: United States Books :: 20Th Century Books
MORE BOOK INFO
ISBN: 0142001775
ISBN(13-digit): 9780142001776
Copyright: 2004
Dewey Decimal: 974.7
Library of Congress: oc2007107137
Book Publisher: Penguin Group USA
Language: ENG
Binding: Sewn
No. of Pages: 512
Paper Weight (lb): 1.38 lb
If you like this book, you may also enjoy:
