The Autobiography of Lincoln Steffens (California Legacy Book) [Paperback]

Lincoln Steffens (Author), Thomas C. Leonard (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2005

The first of the muckrakers, in the finest tradition of American journalism

Here, in what The Nation publisher Victor Navasky says ''ought to be assigned reading,'' is the autobiography of one of the world's first celebrity journalists: Lincoln Steffens, a man whose writing was so notorious that President Theodore Roosevelt coined a term for it--muckraking.

Growing up in Sacramento, Steffens (1866-1936) was an editor at the New York Evening Post, and later at McClure's Magazine. As popular as he was cantankerous, he brushed shoulders with presidents and corporate barons, tsars and dictators. Inspiring, entertaining, and lyrical, The Autobiography of Lincoln Steffens is the story of a brilliant reporter with a passion for examining the complex and contradictory conditions that breed corruption, poverty, and misery.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Thomas C. Leonard has written extensively on the origins of modern American journalism, including The Power of the Press: The Birth of American Political Reporting and News for All: America's Coming-of-Age with the Press. He is a University Librarian at the University of California, Berkeley, and a professor in the Graduate School of Journalism.

Product Details

• Paperback: 884 pages
• Publisher: Heyday (November 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1597140163
• ISBN-13: 978-1597140164
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.5 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #747,334 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Growing up in Sacramento, Steffens (1866-1936) was an editor at the New York Evening Post, and later at McClure's Magazine. As popular as he was cantankerous, he brushed shoulders with presidents and corporate barons, tsars and dictators.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant classic, January 16, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (Santa Rosa, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Autobiography of Lincoln Steffens, Vol. 2: Muckraking/Revolution/Seeing America at Last (Paperback)

This book holds the premier position in my book collection. It is a book that looks at how a man's environment and passion for life forces him to separate the right from the wrong, sometimes at personal peril. From the quintessential muckraker to one of the original socialists, Steffens was an independent thinker who shares his mistakes, his disappointments, and his fundamental beliefs in rich and passionate prose. Thought by many to be the greatest autobiography ever written this book, as well as his famous "Shame of the Cities", are considered two of the New York Times' greatest 100 books of the 20th century. And rightfully so. Don't expect dry historical narrative. Rather, be ready to be given insight into turn of the twentieth century life and to be inspired by a man's struggles while exposing and understanding truth and power in every form.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Treasure, April 26, 2010

By 

James Ross "James Ross" (New York City) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Autobiography of Lincoln Steffens (California Legacy Book) (Paperback)

I've spent so much time with THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY over the years that my duct taped old copy needed to be replaced. Lincoln Steffens serves as my Virgil through the lambrythian political, economic, and social history of the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th century. Many of his observations hold as true today as when he made them over a century ago. His cheer and humor shine through. His accounts of boyhood are unequaled. His subtle (and not so subtle) criticisms are revelatory. I often say, with only a little hyperbole, that THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY is the best book ever written in the American Language.