Magazine publishing and editing were only two of the several occupations of William D'Alton Mann, a former Civil War soldier best known for his publications that helped revolutionize society journalism and which were sometimes used by Mann for subtle blackmailing techniques. Although he is remembered by many for his notorious libel suit against Collier's magazine in 1905 (which he lost), he is also known for his part in founding the Smart Set, attracting such writers as O. Henry, Jack London, H. L. Mencken, and George Jean Nathan, and for producing one of the top-flight literary publications at the turn of the century. Mann's Town Topics: The Journal of Society has been described by magazine historian F. L. Mott as "the best-known urban weekly in America" during the period between 1891 and 1920. Sometimes forgotten in the wake of his publishing career and numerous lawsuits are Mann's contributions to railway-car innovation and...