At once a memoir and a meditation on craftsmanship, Silver recounts the remarkable story of the historic restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris as he lived it, while investigating what it means to be a traditional craftsman in the modern world.
Hank Silver is an American carpenter who spent close to two years working on the restoration of the medieval roof framing of Notre-Dame de Paris. Starting with 600 oak logs, the crew hand-hewed over one thousand beams using medieval-patterned axes, reproduced the 13th-century wooden joinery, and installed the finished frame in Paris. Silver is a member of the volunteer crew, Charpentiers sans frontières (Carpenters Without Borders), whose mission is the restoration of world carpentry heritage and the transmission of the skills and techniques to future generations. Silver currently resides in France.