With the birth of the steel-frame skyscraper in the late 19th cent. came a new breed of man: the structural ironworkers who walked steel beams -- no wider, often, than the face of a hardcover book -- 100s of feet above ground, to raise the towers & bridges that so abruptly transformed America in the 20th cent. Many early ironworkers were former sailors, new Amer. of Irish & Scand. descent. Others came from a small Mohawk Indian reservation or from seaside towns in Newfoundland. This is the stirring epic of these proud, courageous men & the icons they built -- & are still building. A fast-paced portrait of vivid personalities, containing episodes of startling violence & exhilarating adventure, as well as a moving account of brotherhood & family.

B&W photos.