Skylines: American Cities Yesterday and Today 
asked by corral on November 17, 2006 6:35 PM
Bold, innovative, technological marvels, skyscrapers first became part of the nation's landscape of triumphalism during the Gilded Age. In the 20th century, they began to form distinctive skylines, reflections of the unique character of each metropolis. A distinctive piece of Americana, skylines have grown to embody the national character and tradition, a combination of ingenuity, courage, bravado, and the will to accomplish the seemingly impossible, and an expression of the freedom to reach the greatest heights of human experience that has shaped the United States. Skylines: American Cities Yesterday and Today showcases the skylines of 48 great American cities with the brilliant panoramic photographs of Blakeway Worldwide Panoramas. Historical views of these cities, both photographs and detailed maps, reflect the increased importance of civic pride over the past century. Historian M. Hill Goodspeed guides readers through each city, offering atmospheric historical portraits to accompany the vintage images and the stunning contemporary Blakeway images.
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The oversized, oblong shape of this lovely title will challenge library shelves but lends to display: perfect for the panoramic scenes of American skylines which is the focus of Skylines: American Cities Yesterday And Today. The world's first skyscraper in Chicago was finished in 1885, but skyscrapers have graced almost every large American city since. This celebration provides modern photos of almost fifty such skyscrapers, adding more from around the world and providing historical photos and maps for each city. Personal travel and research combined with these original shots makes Skylines a unique and important contribution to American architectural, city planning, and urban studies.
reviewed by imtheboss on November 18, 2006 12:38 AM
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Finally a quality photography book on the skylines. I have been waiting on a book like this for some time. This book is very well done, most of the photographs are vivid and just jump off the page. The photographs of Atlanta and Honolulu are especially well done, it seems like you can see forever. The only real qualm I have with this book is that the pictures of the skylines are not consistant, some are up close, some are more current, and some are taken at night. The two skylines I am most familiar with, Houston and Dallas, are represented with daylight photos, that I am appreciative of, but the photo's are too close, both cities have great skylines that stretch out from the city center and give a breathtaking vista, which unfortunitely was not represented. If they had been photographed in the same way as Atlanta I would have been thrilled. I would have liked the creators of this book to have taken all the pictures the same way, in the daylight, high above, and on clear, crisp days. This is a nice book, but it could have been great, I would have been so pleased if all the pictures where as well done and aweinspiring as the pics of Honolulu and Atlanta, now that would have been a five star book and then some. Having said all of this, I do recommend this book to anyone with an interest in architecture and arial photography, you won't be totally disappointed, you'll just be left like me, a bit sad, thinking it could have been better.
reviewed by dignified1 on November 20, 2006 9:46 AM