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John Ingham's in-depth examination of small and mid-sized Pittsburgh steel mills during the age of Carnegie challenges business historians' traditional view that nineteenth-century industrial development followed a linear pattern, progressing from a handicraft stage to large-scale mass production. In the steel industry, this pattern was best exemplified by Andrew Carnegie, but while Carnegie's pattern became the stereotype for the entire industry, Ingham argues that his case was actually unique.
In Making Iron and Steel, John Ingham introduces the intricate, densely textured world of nineteenth-century entrepreneurs. He observes how those in Pittsburgh handled Carnegie's challenge and the challenge of the mammoth, large-batch mass production techniques he pioneered. He also studies those few who compete directly with Carnegie, as well as the larger number who found quieter, more isolated corners of the market in which they practiced a slower, steadier, but highly successful form of market response.
Finally, Ingham shows that the owners of the small iron and steel companies exercised considerable social and cultural influence, constituting a large proportion of Pittsburgh's social upper class and influencing the boards of directors of many major manufacturing and banking institutions. This, in turn, translated into political and cultural influence.
Making Iron and Steel is one of the few business history studies that looks at the masses of smaller and medium-sized businessmen and the world in which they worked.
John N. Ingham is Professor of History at the University of Toronto. His previous works include Contemporary American Business Leaders, The Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders, and The Iron Barons.
