author
Lincoln Steffens
1866–1936
A pioneering muckraker of the Progressive Era, he helped change American journalism by digging into corruption in city governments and showing readers how power really worked. His reporting was sharp, vivid, and deeply interested in the gap between public ideals and political reality.
1 Audiobook
The Shame of the Cities
by Lincoln Steffens
About the author
Born in San Francisco in 1866, Lincoln Steffens became one of the best-known investigative journalists of the early 20th century. After studying in the United States and Europe, he built his career as a reporter and editor, eventually writing for McClure's, the magazine that became famous for hard-hitting reform journalism.
Steffens is especially remembered for exposing corruption in American cities. His articles on urban political machines were collected in The Shame of the Cities (1904), a book that helped define the work of the so-called muckrakers. Rather than treating corruption as the fault of a few bad officials, he pushed readers to see the wider systems of business, politics, and public indifference that allowed it to thrive.
Over time, his interests widened from city reform to larger political questions at home and abroad. He reported on revolutionary movements and later published The Autobiography of Lincoln Steffens (1931), a lively account of his life, ideas, and changing beliefs. He died in Carmel, California, in 1936, leaving behind a body of work that shaped investigative reporting for generations.