Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City

by Stefan Lorant

The Story of an American City follows Pittsburgh from its frontier beginnings through its evolution into the most heavily industrialized city in the world, to the city's renewal of itself as "America's Most Livable City." This beautiful volume though, is much more than the story of a single city; it is the history of the United States.

This book is based on years of research and includes contributions by such noted American historians as Henry Steele Commager and Oscar Handlin. More than 1100 pictures recreate the city's dramatic 200+year history. Featured are photographs by W. Eugene Smith, Margaret Bourke-White, Norman W. Schumm, Lorant himself and others. A chronology of events from 1717 offers historical snapshots in the day to day life of the archetypical American city.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History

776 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

An expert in U.S. presidential and pictorial history, Lorant worked as a filmmaker in Europe (1920s) before becoming a journalist. Jailed by Hitler in 1933, he wrote the popular book I Was Hitler's Prisoner (1935), based on his experiences. After leaving Germany, Lorant developed several pictorial magazines in England. When he came to the United States in 1940, he produced the impressive pictorial history Lincoln: His Life in Photographs (1951) as well as volumes on other U.S. presidents and Sieg Heil, a pictorial history of Germany from Bismark to Hitler.

Reviews

[Jenn Golling · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a Yinzer-this is your Bible! The pictures alone are well worth the purchase. It is nonfiction that reads like fiction. The rise of the steel industry and its creation of overnight millionaires was fascinating! Every Pittsburgher should have it and read it.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this portrait of my hometown, even though the edition I read was published the year before I was born. Fascinated by the history and I now want to know more. Great photos--especially of the floods of 1936 and those of the true smoky city, dark at 11 am.

[Patrick Fiorill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid n@

[Jenna Mihalcin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm obsessed with Pittsburgh, so I really wanted to check out this very popular "encyclopedia" on all things Pittsburgh.

While we learned about the early history of Pittsburgh in middle and high school (French and Indian War), I never knew much about the history of Pittsburgh during the entirety of the 1900s. This massive book really explained so many historical events that shaped our city into what it is today. I highly enjoyed this and I feel like I know so much more now about my favorite city than I did previously.

[Richard A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that every Pittsburgher ought to read.

[Pavan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The definitive history of a "Great American City" (in my opinion, the greatest American city). And with great pictures, to boot. Every Pittsburgher should have this book on their coffee table.

[Mike Staresinic]

Lorant spent a full decade on this unprecedented study of a US city, then revised and expanded it three times over subsequent decades. "Pittsburgh" is a visual tour - Lorant pioneered the illustrated history book in this country - of what started as a colonial outpost and grew from a river into a rail and steel city, called "The Indispensable American city" by historian David McCullough. Pittsburgh's transformation since the 1940s is covered, although it's fair to say that in the mid-1980s, nobody had a clue what large-scale technology transformation would do for the economy, quality of life, and city design over the past quarter century.

The book is unstintingly illustrated with images of early homes and settlers - Baywood, the original Negley home at the corner of Negley and Stanton! - half of which appear in no other books.