The son of German immigrants, Franz Stoessel comes of age at the end of the nineteenth century with the conviction that nothing matters in America except wealth and power. As a foreman at the local steel mill in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, he is brutal to his fellow workers, believing that a man's sins can be buried beneath his fortune. When a charismatic Englishman attempts to form a union at Schmidt Steel Company, Franz meets the threat with violent force. Nothing will stand in his way-not the health and safety of his colleagues, nor his tender feelings for a beautiful cousin who disapproves of his materialism. Time and time again, Franz makes the cold-hearted decision to put himself above all others-and reaps the rewards that elude his friends and family. But are his choices driven by strength or fear? And when the reckoning comes, who will stand by his side? A compelling portrait of American capitalism.
