Description:
Conceived in the aftermath of the American Civil War and the grief that swept France over the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the Statue of Liberty has been a potent symbol of the nation's highest ideals since it was unveiled in 1886. Dramatically...
Brief description: Yasmin Sabina Khan, an independent scholar, is author of Engineering Architecture: The Vision of Fazlur R. Khan.
Review Quotes:
Based on research in U.S. and French archives, this vigorously written book focuses on the conception, design, construction, and installation of one of America's iconic symbols. Khan, an engineer herself, presents a linear account of the effort from 1865 to 1886 to memorialize French participation in the American Revolution, grief at President Lincoln's assassination, France's transition to democracy, and the universal cause of freedom. She supplements her narrative with frequent discussions of the meaning of liberty, the importance of classical design in 19th-century America, and the Franco-American connection from Lafayette to the Third Republic.... Rather than analyzing the later meanings of the statue, Khan's annotated book tells of its imaging and building in the context of its time. Her definitions of architectural and engineering methods will please the lay reader.
-- "Library Journal"