Book Review - Industrial Pioneers Scranton, Pennsylvania and the Transformation of America, 1840-1902

Tribute Books announces the release of Industrial Pioneers: Scranton, Pennsylvania and the Transformation of America, 1840-1920 by Patrick Brown. It investigates the historyof Scranton and allows the reader to witness the development of the distinct and interrelated ideologies that defined industrial America.

About the Book

During the nineteenth century, Scranton was the face of innovation, immigration, industrialization, and a rising America. Scranton was “the electric city” when electricity was the most exciting invention in the world, and a hub of technology and innovation—between 1840 and 1902, the city of Scranton changed from a lazy backwoods community to a modern industrial society with 100,000 residents. During this time, Scranton’s citizens desperately tried to adapt their thinking to keep up with the overwhelming changes around them, and in the process forged the world views that would define the twentieth century. As globalization, technology and immigration transform the United States today, this book revisits how the people the forefront of the industrial revolution moved from chaos to a new order, and how they found meaning within a rapidly changing world.

Periods of total societal transformation often provide the best material for historians. The way that Scranton’s residents reimagined their value within society in response to the changes around them did not evolve in step with technological and economic progress—rather, those living through these changes slowly and painfully adapted extant modes of thinking in light of their new life circumstances. This book weaves a cohesive narrative that explains how Scranton—and America—went from the personal, egalitarian society of the early days of the republic to the rigidly institutionalized society that endures today.

Praise for Industrial Pioneers
My hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania was a cauldron of change and conflict during the period from 1840 to 1900. Patrick Brown's excellent book sheds new light on Scranton's transformation from wilderness to industrial center and the development of our country's earliest labor movements. Perhaps more importantly, it introduces us to the people who drove this process and helps us understand how they thought about their changing world and about themselves."

Robert P. Casey, Jr., United States Senator for Pennsylvania

About the Author
Patrick Brown was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He graduated Magna cum Laude from Georgetown University, where he won the Morris Medal for best senior history honors thesis. He currently teaches high school social studies in the Mississippi Delta through Teach for America.



Industrial Pioneers: Scranton, Pennsylvania and the Transformation of America, 1840-1902
by Patrick Brown
ISBN: 9780982256558 (hardcover)

$19.95
 

My Take on the Book
As a person who enjoys history, this book opened my eyes to the vast change that occured within Scranton between 1840 and 1902. It was amazing to me not only how transformational the change was to the city itself, but to the people. The author does a great job at capturing the wonder, issues and concerns that surrounded this change and you can tell that this particular period of time is near and dear to his heart. The book also is filled with great research into a bygone era. If you are a person who enjoys history as well as gaining a better understanding of the underlying causes to the changes that occured (not only in Scranton) but the larger United Stated during the late 19th Century, this book is one that you should grab.

If you are interested in having this book as a part of your own library you  can find it on Amazon!
All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company.  Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site's Terms of Use  for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.

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