In City Contented, City Discontented: A History of Modern Harrisburg, award-winning journalist Paul Beers (1931 2011) reveals how contemporary Harrisburg came to be what it is. In a masterful series of essays, Beers charts the capital s development from a City Beautiful, with its celebrated public spaces and premier educational institutions, through the fractures of race riots and the catastrophic challenges of flood and near nuclear meltdown. Beers employs the well-honed skills of a veteran reporter to craft fascinating character sketches of prominent leaders and humble citizens alike, intertwining their dramatic personal stories with a compelling survey of the region s society, politics, and culture in the twentieth century.
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