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We are proud of the many books available from the University of Pittsburgh Press that provide in-depth information about our fascinating city. As the host of the 2009 G-20 summit, our city found itself at the center of some much-deserved attention. But locals have known for long time that today’s Pittsburgh is green, a hub of education and high-tech industry, rich in cultural offerings, bursting with opportunity --- and a fantastic place to live.
Below is just a sampling of some of our favorite books about Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania. A complete listing of our regional titles can be viewed here. |
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PITTSBURGH
A New Portrait
Franklin Toker
A unique look at a uniquely American city, architectural historian Toker examines Pittsburgh in its historical context (from Indian settlement to postmodern city), in its regional setting (from the playgrounds of the Laurel Highlands to the hard-working mill towns dotting the landscape), and from the street level (leading the reader on a personal tour through every neighborhood). More… |
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BIG STEEL
The First Century of the United States Steel Corporation, 1901–2001
Kenneth Warren
In 1901, the United States Steel Corporation was the earth’s biggest industrial corporation, producing thirty percent of the steel made worldwide. Today it makes just over one and a half percent of global steel output. But at the same time the US Steel Group is now a world leader in steel-making efficiency. The story of this extraordinary company provides important lessons which can enrich and inform the practice of business in the twenty-first century. More… |
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PITTSBURGH AND THE APPALACHIANS
Cultural and Natural Resources in a Postindustrial Age
Joseph L. Scarpaci and Kevin J. Patrick, eds.
Few American cities reflect the challenges and promise of a twenty-first-century economy better than Pittsburgh and its surrounding region. Pittsburgh and the Appalachians explores the challenges that this region faces in the new global economy, from the perspectives of technology, natural resources, workforce, and geography. It shows how other cities can learn from our experiences in redevelopment, green space acquisition, air and water quality improvement, cultural revival, and public-private partnerships to create a more livable, economically viable region for future populations. More… |
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THE FALLINGWATER COOKBOOK
Elsie Henderson’s Recipes and Memories
Suzanne Martinson with Jane Citron and Robert Sendall
Hailed as the most architecturally significant private residence in the United States, Fallingwater was a welcome retreat for the Kaufmann family and their many prominent guests. The Fallingwater Cookbook captures the experience of entertaining and dining at this famed home through the eyes of Elsie Henderson, the longtime and last cook at Fallingwater, along with her memories of encounters with Senators John Heinz and Ted Kennedy, Isaac Stern, and Frank Lloyd Wright, among others. More… |
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DEVASTATION AND RENEWAL
An Environmental History of Pittsburgh and Its Region
Joel A. Tarr
This book examines the complicated environmental history of Pittsburgh, a region blessed with an abundance of natural resources as well as a history of brutal industrial development—and now undergoing a remarkable environmental renaissance. More… |
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MR. ROGERS' NEIGHBORHOOD
Children, Television, and Fred Rogers
Mark Collins and Margaret Mary Kimmel, eds.
Did you know that Pittsburgh is the birthplace of both public television and of America’s most beloved children’s program? In 1954 Fred Rogers became program director for the newly founded WQED-TV in Pittsburgh, the first community-supported television station in the United States. A decade later he accepted the special charge of serving children and their families through television, developing and starring in what became the award-winning PBS series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. More… |
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SINGING THE CITY
The Bonds of Home in an Industrial Landscape
Laurie Graham
Graham offers an eloquent tribute to the human investment that built the Pittsburgh: the European immigrants who came to work in the mills in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and their struggles with powerful industrialists like Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick. She evokes the superhuman aura of making steel by taking the reader to still functioning mills and uncovers for us a wealth of traditions in ethnic neighborhoods that survive to this day. More… |
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THE SPECTATOR AND THE TOPOGRAPHICAL CITY
Martin Aurand
Martin Aurand examines Pittsburgh’s built environment as it relates to the city’s unique topography, exploring man’s response to an unruly terrain of hills, hollows, and rivers. He shows how these features functionally molded Pittsburgh to its strenuous topography and in turn shaped our perceptions of a singular American city. More… |
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PITTSBURGH SPORTS
Stories from the Steel City
Randy Roberts
The Steelers, the Penguins, and the Pirates: no city has more devoted fans than Pittsburgh. It is impossible to truly understand this city without understanding our love of sports. This book mixes personal experiences with team histories to capture the full range of what it means to be a Pittsburgh sports fan. More… |
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BONE WARS
The Excavation and Celebrity of Andrew Carnegie’s Dinosaur
Tom Rea
Less than one hundred years ago, Diplodocus carnegii—named after Pittsburgh industrialist and global philanthropist Andrew Carnegie—was the most famous dinosaur on the planet and it is still on display at the Museum of Natural History. This is remarkable story of the hubris, vision, and outright thievery that helped to establish Pittsburgh as a center of American science. More… |
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FRONT-PAGE PITTSBURGH
Two Hundred Years of the Post-Gazette
Clarke M. Thomas
The first issue of the Pittsburgh Gazette was published in1786, and today it lives on as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, one of the nation’s oldest newspapers. With a story that is inextricably entwined with that of the city, the paper has greatly influenced local politics and business, while Pittsburghers have come to trust and respect the paper's fairness in dealing with diverse interests and controversial viewpoints. More… |
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UNCOMMON PASSAGE
Traveling through History on the Great Allegheny Passage Trail
Edward K. Muller, ed.
Paul g. Wiegman, photographer
The Great Allegheny Passage Trail is a newly opened hiking and biking route stretching approximately 150 miles from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Maryland, where it connects with the C&O Canal Towpath to reach Washington, DC. Formerly an Indian path, trade route, military road, railway line, and part of the original National Road—the trail is truly a path through the heritage of a region that helped to build a nation. More… |
