(Now available in paperback)
New York City in the Roaring Twenties...A battle between America's most creative and most ambitious architects...The race to build the world's tallest skyscraper.
“Captivating. Bascomb describes the race as if he were a war correspondent, relating the marshaling of battalions of workers, secret battle strategy, deliberate lies, and plans redrawn at the last minute.” —Washington Post Book World
Description: In 1929, in
the vibrant heart of Manhattan at the height of the Roaring
Twenties, a fierce rivalry was born. Two architects,
William Van Alen and Craig Severance, set out to imprint
their individual marks on the greatest canvas in the
world—the rapidly evolving skyline of New York City. Each
man desired to build the city’s tallest building. Each
would stop at nothing to outdo his rival.
In HIGHER, the
battle between the architects is as suspenseful as the race
itself—and as dramatic as the ingenious last-minute
flourish that would briefly give one building the title of
the tallest in the world, before another monument to
American drive, desire, and one upmanship soared even
higher.