These books highlight the histories, construction, and impact of four mammoth American development projects that changed the communities around them. Photos, maps, and informative sidebars supplement the densely detailed writing. American history buffs will find these volumes useful for doing research. Reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., glos., ind.

KUPPERBERG, Paul . The Alaska Highway . 120p. May ISBN 978-1-60413-074-4 . LC 2008025547. MURPHY, John . The Eisenhower Interstate System . 144p. ISBN 978-1-60413-067-6 . LC 2008025544. MURPHY, John . The Telephone: Wiring America . 136p. Apr. ISBN 978-1-60413-068-3 . LC 2008025546. PRENTZAS, G.S. The Brooklyn Bridge . 120p. Apr. ISBN 978-1-60413-073-7 . LC 2008025543. REIS, Ronald A. The Empire State Building . 144p. ISBN 978-1-60413-045-4 . LC 2008025549. REIS, Ronald A. . The New York City Subway System . 136p. May ISBN 978-1-60413-046-1 . LC 2008025550. SLAVICEK, Louise Chipley . New York Citys Central Park . 120p. ISBN 978-1-60413-044-7 . LC 2008025548. ea vol: (Building America Then and Now Series). illus. maps. photos. reprods. bibliog. chron. further reading. glossary. index. Web sites. CIP. Chelsea House . 2009. Tr $35. Gr 6-9 These books feature a number of large construction projects that have contributed to forming the American landscape. Somewhat New York-centric, with four of the eight titles focusing on that citys infrastructure, the series provides a picture of late-19th- and early-20th-century developments. Brooklyn Bridge , Empire State Building , and Central Park discuss the large-scale accomplishments of the creators of those monumental and trend-setting works, while Telephone , Interstate , and Subway System focus on transportation and telecommunications systems that have had a huge impact on life today. Each book features tangential discussions of related issues, such as the treatment of African-American soldiers during the construction of the Alaska Highway, and includes short sidebars about similar, modern-day projects. A long first chapter in Hoover Dam provides a meandering history of dams and introduces terms in the main text before they are defined. Empire State Building has many clever vignettes that are related, but only barely; a story about the Mohawk Sky Boys offers a little diversity, but never comes into play again in the main narrative. Brooklyn Bridge , on the other hand, offers a long history of the settlement of New York City, but because much of the discussion relates to the need for the bridge, the lengthy explanation never feels off topic. The other titles are tightly focused, offering a detailed picture of the construction of the projects by concentrating on the people who were involved.