January 31, 2013 · 12:30 pm

London Bridge… recommended by Stanfords books

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Gregor Swiderek reviews:
London Bridge in America: The Tall Story of a Transatlantic Crossing
Travis Elborough
“A book that’s doing the rounds among Stanfords staff (testament to how interesting and well-written it is) is Travis Elborough’s London Bridge in America, which Gregor is just coming to the end of, though admittedly he’s slowing down so he can hold onto it for a little longer. It tells the story of one of the most peculiar events in Anglo-American history, when in 1968 Arizona’s McCulloch Oil Corporation bought London Bridge. Brick by brick, this 1831 London icon was dismantled before being reconstructed in the emptiness of the Arizonan desert. But the book goes a little deeper than a description of the event per se, shedding light on Anglo-American relations and stereotyped national characteristics.”

Stanfords Our Top 7 Reads for 2013:

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January 30, 2013 · 1:28 pm

London Bridge book: the vinyl mix

Here’s a vinyl mix that takes you lucky listener on a journey from London Bridge, to the deserts of the USA in the capable hands of, among others, Tommy Steele, Spectrum, Bread, Nat King Cole, Lorne Greene and some terribly trendy chaps on London’s Carnaby Street.

Find out more about the book:
www.amazon.co.uk/London-Bridge-Am…=ntt_at_ep_dpt_3

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January 2, 2013 · 12:11 pm

London Bridge in America: Out February 7th 2013

Coming soon, “London Bridge in America: the tall story of a transatlantic crossing” (Jonathan Cape, February 2013)

In 1968 London Bridge went to America.

But how do you transport a 130-year-old bridge 3,000 miles? And why did Robert P. McCulloch, a multimillionaire oil baron and chainsaw-manufacturing king, buy it? Why did he ship it to a waterless patch of Arizona? Did he even get the right bridge?

London Bridge in America is the story of one of the oddest events in Anglo-American history, and a gloriously entertaining insight into Britain, America and the so-called special relationship both then and now. It also includes a cast of Fleet Street shysters, stiff-lipped bureaucrats, Disneyland designers, Thames dockers, Guinness Book of Records officials, the odd Lord Mayor, a megalomaniac entrepreneur, gun-toting US sheriffs and an Apache Indian or two.

Listen to the audio trailer:

A colourful, witty and quirky keyhole history, this is a story it’s hard to believe, let alone forget.

Pre-order on Amazon
Or just wait and buy it at your local bookshop.

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