Author Events
St. Louis In Tune - KXOX
A radio interview and podcast with Arnold Stricker, May 23, 2024, recordings available below.
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Civil War Roundtable, Charlottesville, VA | Tuesday, September 10th, 2024 @ 6 pm
Join the retired UVA professor Jack Brown at Westminster Canterbury of the Blue Ridge as he will discuss his new book about a remarkable engineer, James Eads. The talk will focus on developments during the American Civil War that laid foundations for Eads’s success in building his great steel bridge over the Mississippi River at St. Louis (1867-1874).
Linda Hall Library, Kansas City, Missouri | Tuesday, September 17th, 2024 @ 3 pm
Professor John K. Brown from the Engineering School at the University of Virginia will discuss his new book, Spanning the Gilded Age: James Eads and the Great Steel Bridge. The talk will contrast Eads’s work at St. Louis with a contemporary bridge over the Missouri River at Kansas City, built by another towering figure in American civil engineering, Octave Chanute.
Explorers’ Club of St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri | Thursday, September 19th, Details TBD
Professor John K. Brown, a historian of technology retired from the Engineering School at the University of Virginia, will discuss his new book, Spanning the Gilded Age: James Eads and the Great Steel Bridge.
Open to the Public
Left Bank Books, St. Louis, MO | Thursday, May 23, 2024 @ 6:00pm
Left Bank Books presents John K. Brown to discuss his new book Spanning the Gilded Age: James Eads and the Great Steel Bridge. Join us as we celebrate the fascinating history of the St. Louis Bridge, the first steel structure in the world.
New Dominion Bookshop, Charlottesville, VA | Saturday, June 1, 2024 @ 4:00pm
Join us for a book talk with John K. Brown, who will speak about his new book, Spanning the Gilded Age: James Eads and the Great Steel Bridge. This in-person event will be free and open to the public. We recommend arriving early for the best seating.
Blue Hill Books, Blue Hill, ME | Wednesday, July 24, 2024 @ 7:00pm
In Spanning the Gilded Age, John K. Brown tells the daring, improbable story of the construction of the St. Louis Bridge, known popularly as the Eads Bridge. This history details the origins, design, construction, and enduring impact of a unique feat of engineering, and it illustrates how Americans built their urban infrastructure during the nineteenth century.