Stairway to Empire: Lockport, the Erie Canal, and the Shaping of America (Excelsior Editions) - Hardcover

"In this sagacious and thought-provoking study, McGreevy explores the multiple meanings of a once-renowned and significant American place experiencing the profound changes of industrialism and the onrushing market economy." -- Edward K. Muller

Historians of technology will appreciate [McGreevy s] efforts to highlight the interconnectedness of environmental, social, and technological agents in Lockport s transition from a central node in America s nineteenth-century transportation infrastructure to a largely forgotten, postindustrial backwater. Technology and Culture
Stairway to Empire offers a rare combination: a scholarly monograph with an autobiographical twist. In this labor of love, Patrick McGreevy offers a richly textured biography of his hometown of Lockport, New York It is deeply researched, interdisciplinary in nature, and written with sophistication and clarity. Journal of American History
McGreevy has produced a volume that not only details the story of the Erie Canal s completion but also considers its importance as a physical representation of American ideals, its significance as a tangible symbol of nineteenth-century national philosophy and its place in the larger narrative of American modernity and progress. The Canadian Geographer
This is an assessment of a brief moment of nationwide prominence and the persisting realities of the meaning of change for not only Lockport, but for every community. CHOICE
In this sagacious and thought-provoking study, McGreevy explores the multiple meanings of a once-renowned and significant American place experiencing the profound changes of industrialism and the onrushing market economy. Edward K. Muller, University of Pittsburgh"

"Historians of technology will appreciate [McGreevy's] efforts to highlight the interconnectedness of environmental, social, and technological agents in Lockport's transition from a central node in America's nineteenth-century transportation infrastructure to a largely forgotten, postindustrial backwater." -- Technology and Culture
"Stairway to Empire offers a rare combination: a scholarly monograph with an autobiographical twist. In this labor of love, Patrick McGreevy ... offers a richly textured biography of his hometown of Lockport, New York ... It is deeply researched, interdisciplinary in nature, and written with sophistication and clarity." -- Journal of American History
..".McGreevy has produced a volume that not only details the story of the Erie Canal's completion but also considers its importance as a physical representation of American ideals, its significance as a tangible symbol of nineteenth-century national philosophy and its place in the larger narrative of American modernity and progress." -- The Canadian Geographer
"This is an assessment of a brief moment of nationwide prominence and the persisting realities of the meaning of change for not only Lockport, but for every community." -- CHOICE
"In this sagacious and thought-provoking study, McGreevy explores the multiple meanings of a once-renowned and significant American place experiencing the profound changes of industrialism and the onrushing market economy." -- Edward K. Muller, University of Pittsburgh