Customer Reviews

Making Steel: Sparrows Point and the Rise and Ruin of American Industrial Might

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The first 350 pages of this book by Mark Reutter were incredibly researched and dogmatically detailed. Cost figures, inane but helpful facts about weights and manufacturing norms were all included. Interviews with those who rememebr the mill from the 1940's and war-era booms had profound effect on the reader. The detailed background to Sparrows Point and to Charles Schwab was particularly unique and helpful, as were the details on figures like Frederick Wood and Dr. Abel Wolman. These crucial storylines create the background for a mill that was very powerful but also very tragic for workers, families and the environment. Meticulous in documentation the reader is provided a visual of factory life for the first 50 years in Maryland. Truly a gem....for the first 350 pages.

Beginning with the period of the 1950's Reutter begin to accelerate his pace notably. Facts are more vague, details fewer to come by, and the years are treated in a flurry of activity that seems to gain more pace the further one reads. The latter part of the book seemed to be determined by other works/authors (i.e "Good to Great" or John Strohmeyer) with less depth and meaning then any of the quoted sources achieved in their works (I read all of them). Ken Iverson of NUCOR fame is treated as a bit of a god-like prodigy, business realities are discarded and the author succombs to compassionate story tales of the union worker and his fate at the hands of "irresponsible and reckless management". Wilbur Ross, though not a choir boy according to anybody, gets unfair trteatment for his conduct in this situation. Also....glaring error/ommission in management history of Bethlehem Steel with Donald Trautlein and early 1980's.....completely misrepresented by author.

Overall I would say it was a good body of information, but as a student of the industrial revolution and Bethlehem Steel in particular, I have no praise for the vague generalizations Reutter inserts as thought in the book's conclusion. As a citizen of a locale near Behtlehem itself, I reject and find fault with Reutter's portrayal of Maryland superiority in steel and management......there is little if any historical evidence to prove this bias. Throughout the book Bethlehem is treated as a fumbling colossus and Maryland the reason for it's success, which is only partly true. This book deserves a much more powerful ending, and more substance to describe such a complex situation/predicament that was created in the reader for 350+ pages. Too much bias, too little business/historical objectivity and too quick and ending for a stellar review.

Reporter and business and law editor Mark Reutter presents Making Steel: Sparrows Point And The Rise And Ruin Of American Industrial Might, a historical chronicle of the rise and fall of American steel industry that especially focuses upon what was once the world's largest steel mill at Sparrows Point, Maryland. Scrutinizing the business of steel, its production, daily lives of the workers, and the fallout as corporate leaders elected to enhance their own security and wealth at the expense of employees, community, or innovative technology. A poignant true tale, brought back in a new edition featuring an author's preface, 26 pages of black-and-white photographs, and a telling chapter on Bethlehem Steel's bankruptcy titled "The Discarded American Worker", Making Steel is enthusiastically recommended to economics students and professionals, historians, and lay readers alike.

Mark Reutter has done extensive research to create a very readable history of the rise and eventual fall of the American steel industry. The powerful, ultra-rich lifestyles of the moguls are contrasted with the rank and file laborers who toiled in the Bethlehem Steel company town of Sparrows Point, Maryland. The technical and industrial processes are well presented and the political and social contrasts emerge in a well-told story.

Reporter and business and law editor Mark Reutter presents Making Steel: Sparrows Point And The Rise And Ruin Of American Industrial Might, a historical chronicle of the rise and fall of American steel industry that especially focuses upon what was once the world's largest steel mill at Sparrows Point, Maryland. Scrutinizing the business of steel, its production, daily lives of the workers, and the fallout as corporate leaders elected to enhance their own security and wealth at the expense of employees, community, or innovative technology. A poignant true tale, brought back in a new edition featuring an author's preface, 26 pages of black-and-white photographs, and a telling chapter on Bethlehem Steel's bankruptcy titled "The Discarded American Worker", Making Steel is enthusiastically recommended to economics students and professionals, historians, and lay readers alike.

This is a great book! I ordered it thinking it was going to have a lot of photos and discuss in detail the steel making process. That information is in the book but also much more.

The author examins the cultural, industrial, and economic history of the steel industry at Sparrows Point. Just when the reading starts to get a little boring, Mark Reutter changes direction by focusing on another aspect of the history of this facinating industrial operation.

The author has done a great job assembling facts and nuances of Bethlehem Steel and its purchase of the Sparrows Point (in Baltimore, MD) plant.
Sparrows Point rode the crest of the consumer buying surge in the American economy that started after WW1.
Sadly, Bethlehem Steel went out of business in April 2003, weighed down by massive legacy (pension and health care) costs.