"Seldom does a title summarize so tersely and completely the contents of a book as does that of Carol Willis's brisk, lucid investigation into the forces that shaped the prodigious tall buildings of America's two major turn-of-the-century metropolises.... Never before have the economic specifics of vertical construction been laid out as tellingly as Ms. Willis does here, making this a reference book that future historians will find indispensable". -- Martin Filler, New York Times Book Review
"Zoning ordinances and commercial real-estate values might appear to be odd sources for architectural history, but Ms. Willis writes convincingly that they shaped skyscrapers more than architectural trends". -- Thomas Sullivan, Washington Times
"A fascinating document for banker, developer, and architect alike". -- Matthew Barnett Howland, World Architecture