Books

Traces the Arc of Pittsburgh’s Rise from Frontier Outpost to Dynamic Industrial Region

How Pittsburgh Positioned Itself as a Center of Culture and Innovation at the Turn of the Century

Lays Bare the Class Struggles Inherent in Public Health and Urban Parks Campaigns of the Early Twentieth Century

A Comprehensive History Placing Forbes and His Campaign during the Seven Years’ War within the Context of the Eighteenth Century British Empire

A Pittsburgh Sports History Centering Issues of Race and Economic Disparity

Traces One Family’s Outsized Influence on Its Community and a Century of National Retail Trends in the Department Store Industry

Contextualizes the Development of Early American Violence and Gun Culture

The Complete Story of the Worst Air Pollution Disaster in US History

How Skilled Welsh Workers and Managers Helped Build the American Steel Industry

Tells of the founding and subsequent history of Ephrata, a mystical religious community that flourished in eastern Pennsylvania in the mid-eighteenth century. Its leader, Conrad Beissel, a German Pietist who came to America in 1720 seeking spiritual peace and solitude. Settled in Lancaster County, his talents and charisma attracted other German settlers who shared his vision of a community built in the image of apostolic Christianity.

The first biography of David L. Lawrence, the best of the city bosses, who became mayor of Pittsburgh, modern municipal manager, governor of Pennsylvania, and a power in national politics.

A veteran reporter on American labor, John P. Hoerr analyzes the spectacular and tragic collapse of the steel industry in the 1980s. And the Wolf Finally Came demonstrates how an obsolete and adversarial relationship between management and labor made it impossible for the industry to adapt to a rapidly changing global economy.

The Classic, Lively Narrative of a Seminal Labor Dispute in Appalachian History

Drawing upon previously undiscovered resources, Steel Titan is the first biography ever written on the life of Charles M. Schwab, president of U.S. Steel and founder of Bethlehem Steel.

An overview of scholarly research, both published and previously unpublished, on the history of a city that has often served as a case study for measuring social change. It synthesizes the literature and assesses how that knowledge relates to our broader understanding of the processes of urbanization and urbanism.