These biographical essays, many reprinted from The Pittsburgh Quarterly, describe the men who transformed Pittsburgh into one of the leading industrial cities in the world. Included here are such essays as "The Amazing Career of George Westinghouse," "The Judge and the Little Boy: The Triumph and the Tragedy of A.W. Mellon," "Smilin Charlie Schwab: The Joys and Sorrows of Life on a Large Canvas," and more. The book also includes "A Very Short History of Pittsburgh" that describes how its "geography and geology have been destiny," where the city "not only faces but opens the great heartland of America."