John Arthur Garraty has long been one of America's leading historians. His contributions have been particularly strong in economic history, biography, the Gilded Age, and the Progressive era. Combining an able prose style with balanced judgments, he has produced volumes almost universally respected by historians, and because of his textbooks and biographical projects, he has long had a lay audience as well.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Garraty received a bachelor of arts degree from Brooklyn College in 1941 and masters and doctoral degrees from Columbia University in 1942 and 1949, respectively. From 1942 to 1945, he was in the U.S. Navy, from which he was discharged as petty officer, first class. From 1947 to 1959, he was a member of the faculty at Michigan State University, and from 1959 on, he has been on the faculty of Columbia University. Garraty has received numerous honors: he was a Ford fellow (1953-1954), Social Science Research Council...