The High Girders, John Prebble
The High Girders, John Prebble
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

The High Girders
The gripping true story of a Victorian dream that ended in tragedy

Author: John Prebble

Narrator: David Monteath

Unabridged: 7 hr 3 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/27/2021


Synopsis

'A tale of irresponsibility and inexperience' THE TIMES

'Graphically written with a sense of dramatic construction' SCOTSMAN

On December 28th 1879, the night of the Great Storm, the Tay Bridge collapsed, along with the train that was crossing, and everyone on board...

This is the true story of that disastrous night, told from multiple viewpoints:

The station master waiting for the train to arrive - who sees the approaching lights simply vanish.
The bored young boys watching from their bedroom window who witness the disaster.
The dreamer who designed the bridge which eventually destroyed him.
The old highlanders who professed the bridge doomed from the outset.
The young woman on the ill-fated train, carrying a love letter from the man she hoped to marry...

THE HIGH GIRDERS is a vivid, dramatic reconstruction of the ill-omened man-made catastrophe of the Tay Bridge disaster - and its grim aftermath.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Edward

It’s odd how we come to read some books, THE HIGH GIRDERS being an example. I had read Bill Bryson’s HOME and in it he discussed bridges collapsing because they had used older iron materials before much superior reinforced steel had been developed. In the course of a conversation with a friend, I me......more

Goodreads review by Richard

Another stirring account of a tragedy for Scotland. he leaves no detail unexamined in this marvellous story of a national disaster.......more

Goodreads review by Ellede

I first read the Reader’s Digest Condensed Books version of this longer ago than I like to remember, and was delighted to find a hardcover reprint at an Edinburgh book fair twenty years ago. Prebble was a fine writer, telling the history of the original Tay Bridge, the storm that destroyed it and th......more

Goodreads review by Andrew

'The High Girders' is an example of a form of popular history writing that is nominally no longer published, yet is still relevant in its core raison d'etre and its processes. Prebble brings a novelist's sensibilities to a fascinating story of human tragedy, accompanied by solid historical research,......more

Goodreads review by Fiona

I remember a TV documentary from the late 1970s about various disasters in history and the painting and music for this bridge tragedy stuck with me. I have searched in vain for that documentary over the years without success so I was glad to purchase this book on my Audible membership. When you read......more


Quotes

Graphically written with a sense of dramatic construction SCOTSMAN

A tale of irresponsibility and inexperience THE TIMES

One of our leading historians, whose works ... are as scholarly as they are readable OBSERVER