Photos: J Muckle/Studio D

The Great Bridge
By David McCullough

The author is probably best known for his doorstop biography of President Truman, but in this book, he tells "a quintessential American story," says Williams: how the Brooklyn Bridge came to be. There had been talk of a bridge over the East River for about as long as there were people on either side of it, but it was thought to be an absurd, impossible idea until John Roebling figured out how to span the busy, turbulent waterway. "I haven't been able to drive past or fly over the bridge the same way since," says Williams. "We're often in a big hurry and we make cell phone calls in cars as we pass over it, but it seems a sacrilege to me now to do anything but stop and give this bridge its due."

Brian's next pick: Personal History