from the Things bookbox; I had no idea that this landmark was a bell tower and part of a cathedral complex in Pisa, nor the history of Pisa. This book outlines how the tower came to be, and how well meaning preservationists (and a war) almost destroyed it.

Heading back out in the latest round of the things bookbox. ( )

The book is actually shaped like a parallelogram, so it tilts. The story of the Tower, started in 1173, but which began leaning even before it was finished in 1370, and the 16 + commissions that were formed to investigate the cause and attempt to fix it.

Nicholas Shrady has woven together a fascinating little tale of the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa; from its inception as monument to the Pisan city-state’s military and trading might in the 12th century through to its near collapse and belated rescue in the 21st century. An enthralling read. ( )

I started reading this short monograph on the history of the Tower of Pisa by Nicholas Shrady as a preparation for my Grand Tour of eight weeks across the European continent, of which two weeks in Italy, where I visited Venice, Florence, Pisa and Rome.

Tilt. A skewed history of the Tower of Pisa is a very nice,small book, which excellently served its purpose in giving me a lot of background to the history of Pisa and many interesting facts and anecdotes about the tower. I agree with other reviewers that, as the tower is skewed, so is the book, leaning heavily to giving more information about the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, while almost neglecting, or glossing over recent history.

Unfortunately, I did not finish reading the book before my trip, and did not bring it along. As a result, I missed Chapter 7 describing the Pisa Circle of poets and artists such as Shelley, Byron and Leigh Hunt, whose traces I would have looked for had I known. ( )

Entertaining architectural/technological/cultural history along the lines of Longitude. A lot of fun to read, especially understanding the context and motivations in the early section, helping explain the genesis and significance of the tower. The characters really came alive for me, a real credit to the author.

I do wish the last century got more of the kind of energetic coverage that the author invested in the tower's first century. When we finally arrive at the last chapter in which the tower is stabilized for the next several centuries, I don't meet the characters, understand their motivations, or even get much depth of understanding of the solution.