Colossus: Hoover Dam and the Making of the American Century Book

The cover blurb calls it a turbulent thriller. Civil-engineering humor, I suppose. The book is an oddly slanted history, a bit turbid and containing long dry patches.

There was a good bit of background on the treatment of the Colorado river prior to the conception of Hoover dam which was well-researched and interesting. Beyond that, the book got sidetracked into decrying the Big Six companies' behavior toward the workers focusing on the number of casualties, labor strife and poor working conditions. I was hoping for more interesting insight into the design and technical details. He repeats that it was massively challenging but never clearly says why it was, or how those challenges were overcome.

The author's perspective on the difficulty of building the dam under such challenging conditions was strangely weak, making the book dull and flat. Part of the problem is that the book lacked human interest; the characters were presented in a way that made them seem dreary relics in an historical dustbin. Comparison to the overly-imaginative treatment of William Mulholland in the fictional "Chinatown" is unfair, but you get the idea.

From my experience this book reflects an underlying incomprehension of the construction industry and a broad misunderstanding of the challenge of the undertaking and the intelligence and bravery of the people who undertook it. Not recommended.