David von Drehle

David von Drehle reports and writes narrative history, turning public events into closely observed accounts of institutional change. Triangle reconstructs the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in Greenwich Village and the political transformation that followed it. Atlantic Monthly Press first published the book in 2003, with Grove Press issuing the paperback in 2004. Von Drehle draws on court records and contemporary reporting to recover the factory, its largely immigrant workforce, the owners’ trial, labor organizing, and the alliance that pushed New York toward stronger workplace protections. The book received the Sidney Hillman Foundation book prize and became his best-known historical work. His other titles include Among the Lowest of the Dead, Rise to Greatness, and The Book of Charlie. Before joining The Washington Post as a columnist, he worked at Time and reported for The Miami Herald. Triangle shows his characteristic method: precise reconstruction of a crisis followed by sustained attention to the institutions it changed.