The Spire The Spire The Spire is a 1964 novel by the English author William Golding. "A dark and powerful portrait of one man's will", it deals with the construction of the 404-foot high spire loosely based on Salisbury Cathedral; the vision of the fictional Dean Jocelin. In this novel, William Golding utilises stream of consciousness writing with an omniscient but increasingly fallible narrator. Jocelin, the Dean of the cathedral, directs the construction of a towering spire funded by his aunt, Lady Alison, a mistress of the former King. The project is carried on against the advice of many, and in particular
History of the world's tallest buildings History of the world's tallest buildings The tallest building in the world, as of 2019, is Burj Khalifa. The title of "world's tallest building" has been borne by various buildings, such as the Rouen Cathedral and the Empire State Building. The skyscraper was invented in Chicago in 1884 when the Home Insurance Building was constructed using a steel-frame with curtain walls instead of load-bearing walls. For the next hundred years, the world's tallest building was always in the United States with New York City accumulating 86 years, and Chicago accumulating 30 years. After just over a century (1885–1998), the distinction