Nucor CEO Ken Iverson's secret weapon is an experimental machine as long as an aircraft carrier that can swallow melted automobiles and spit out sheets of glistening steel. The characters are an army of hot-metal men and women who live for molten steel, braving stark dangers for money and glory. They are young, daring, inexperienced, and destined for success or death.

American Steel has all the elements of a great novel: vivid true characters like Iverson, general manager Keith Earl Busse, and his hot-metal men; gripping suspense; and towering machinery that embodies the spirit of a dream and a driving mission. Here is a story that will inspire everyone who believes that American know-how and ingenuity can triumph.

"American Steel is an absolute original, written at perfect pitch. It's brilliant, spirited, generous, impossible to put down."
--Richard Rhodes

"As an exuberant celebration of the way that everyday people talk while doing important things, American Steel is very hard to beat."
--The New York Times Book Review