Grand Central: Gateway to a Million Lives
New York City's Grand Central Terminal is among those iconic structures that symbolize, if not a nation, then a national spirit. This book recounts the dramatic story of the terminal with a cast that includes the Vanderbilt dynasty, Jimmy Durante, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Architects Belle and Leighton, whose firm supervised the spectacularly successful restoration of Grand Central, provide an insider's perspective on the effort to rescue the once-endangered terminal. Unfortunately, perhaps in an effort to reach a wide audience, the text is weighted toward economic aspects, cultural significance, and lore; design and architecture are given cursory treatment. Even so, this is an engaging account of the rise and decline of mass transport in this century. For large public and academic libraries, and collections with concentrations in urban planning, transportation, and historic preservation.-David Soltesz, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., Parma, OHCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.