The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the iconic landmarks of the New York skyline; it has stood for more than 130 years, taking fourteen dramatic years to complete. In Chief Engineer, Erica Wagner tells the riveting story of the bridge’s construction and of Washington Roebling, the man who built it, one of the America’s most distinguished engineers – from military hero to pioneering civil engineer.

Erica Wagner is the author of Gravity: Stories, Ariel’s Gift: Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath and the Story of Birthday Letters and a novel, Seizure. She is the editor of First Light: A Celebration of Alan Garner. Twice judge of the Man Booker Prize, she was literary editor of The Times for 17 years and is now a contributing writer for the New Statesman and consulting literary editor for Harper’s Bazaar. She was the recipient of the Eccles British Library Writer’s Award in 2014, and is a lecturer in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Martin Knight is a leading UK architect specialising in the design of bridges and transport infrastructure. He founded international bridge designers Knight Architects in 2006, following nine years at Wilkinson Eyre Architects, where he was responsible for bridges including the RIBA Stirling Prize-winning Gateshead Millennium Bridge.