Lincoln Steffens: Portrait of a Great American Journalist [Paperback] Kaplan, Justin

Justin Kaplan traces the arc of Lincoln Steffens, the muckraker who exposed America's corrupt political machines at the turn of the 20th century. Steffens didn't just report on graft and backroom deals — he named names, documented payoffs, and turned urban corruption into front-page news that sparked reform movements across the country. Kaplan captures both the crusading journalist who wrote *The Shame of the Cities* and the complicated man behind the byline: idealistic, restless, sometimes naïve, always chasing the story. This biography follows Steffens from his San Francisco childhood through his groundbreaking investigative work to his later disillusionment and unlikely romance with Soviet Russia. For anyone interested in the origins of investigative journalism, Progressive Era America, or what happens when a reporter becomes as famous as the scandals he uncovers. A clear-eyed look at the man who helped invent modern American journalism.