This book is great. It covers the steelmaking industry in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from its early roots in the 1840s to shortly after the creation of US Steel in 1901. Andrew Carnegie played a huge part in the steel industry during this time, as did the men he worked with and associated with. Many of his peers became multi-millionaires (some billionaires in today's dollars). The author draws from a large number of references to obtain the facts presented in the book, and it's quite interesting. He also presents the plight of the workers, including their living conditions, work conditions, and efforts to unionize and get concessions.Note that much of this book is told in story form, where there's no way the author could know what the people involved were thinking or feeling. So he obviously took some license in what he wrote. In addition, the author intermittently follows the story of a generic steelworker who immigrates from Eastern Europe as a child, starts work in the Pittsburgh steel industry, raises a family, and eventually dies from a stroke or heart attack. The man is never given a name and appears to be a composite of the general steelworker experience into one fictional person. So this book is not a strict and formal academic treatment on the subject.Regardless, there's a ton of accurate factual information, and I loved it. Recommended.