Eiffel's Tower: and the World's Fair where Buffalo Bill beguiled Paris, the artists quarreled, and Thomas Edison became a count by Jill Jonnes

In ten words or less: What do Eiffel, Cody, Edison and Gauguin have in common?

Review: Who can imagine Paris without the Eiffel tower? Many Parisians hated the monument that Gustav Eiffel built for the 1899 Paris World's Fair. There were criticisms about the design, the cost, the safety, and the fact that no French company would bid on the job of designing and manufacturing the elevators that would travel up the curved legs of the tower.
The author intertwines the story of Eiffel with those of Buffalo Bill Cody, Paul Gauguin, and Thomas Edison. Buffalo Bill's wild west show, starring Annie Oakley, was the sensation of the fair, with its "garcons du boeuf," Indian chiefs, buffalo, and displays of sharpshooting. Thomas Edison was showing an early version of the phonograph, but was beset by unscrupulous partners and promoters who wanted to take advantage of him.
The Impressionist artists, especially Paul Gauguin, felt that they were not given their due consideration in the art exhibit. Gauguin pulled his works out of the French exhibit, and hung them on the walls of a cafe on the fair grounds.

Why bother? Readers who enjoyed Erik Larson's "The Devil in White City" will enjoy this look at Paris at the end of the nineteenth century. Fans of the histories of David McCullough and Simon Winchester should add this book to their "must read" list.