And the Wolf Finally Came

And the Wolf Finally Came (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1988) examines American steel’s gradual deterioration after World War II. At the heart of the book, Hoerr interweaves archival research with interviews of dozens of workers, union leaders and managers to show how widespread discontent on the mill-floor over working conditions and managerial authority undermined efforts to build a constructive union-management relationship. This is supplemented by a dramatic narrative of negotiations, strikes and plant shutdowns based on the author’s on-scene reportage in the 1980s as the steel industry shrunk by one-third and hemorrhaged more than 100,000 jobs. Historian Maurine Weiner Greenwald of the University of Pittsburgh, said of this book, “Hoerr has the storytelling flair of a novelist, the political acumen of a social scientist, and the long-range perspective of an historian” (comment on dust jacket).

OTHER REVIEWS
“[Hoerr’s] depiction of life in the mill towns of the Monongahela Valley in Pennsylvania has some of the tragic grandeur of ‘Grapes of Wrath.’ And Hoerr tells the story in a quiet but intense voice that sometimes reminds of a ballad by Bruce Springsteen.” Jonathan Kirsch, “America’s Rusting Steel Industry,” Los Angeles Times, Sept. 14, 1988.

“…what makes it all unforgettable is the passion with which Hoerr, bred in the Monongahela Valley, makes poignant the human and economic tragedies of a once proud industry bleeding to death. No one interested in revitalizing this country’s industrial greatness can afford to miss this extraordinary volume.” A.H. Raskin, retired chief labor writer, New York Time (comment on dust jacket).

“…one thing is certain: when historians turn back to those events, they will find in John Hoerr’s book a contemporary account of unparalleled richness and insight. What might otherwise have been lost (or, indeed, never recorded) has through Hoerr’s immense efforts entered the permanent historical record.” David Brody, labor historian, “On the Decline of American Steel,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History & Biography, CXIII: October 1989.

AWARDS
“Critics Choice” – Los Angeles Times Book Review
“A Best Business Book for 1988” – USA Today
“An Outstanding Academic Book of 1988” – CHOICE
“Outstanding Book of 1988 in Industrial Relations and Labor Economics,” Princeton University .

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