The House of Rothschild: The world's banker, 1849-1999, Volume 2Oxford scholar Neil Ferguson uncovers the secrets behind the phenomenal economic success of the Rothschild family and reveals for the first time the details of the family's vast political and financial network. The Rothschilds created and dominated the modern international bond market and pioneered the art of high-speed communication: their dominance as a political and financial force was such that few governments resisted turning to the family in times of crisis. "Money is the god of our time," wrote Heinrich Heine, "and Rothschild is his prophet." From the Crimea to World War II, wars repeatedly threatened the stability of the Rothschilds' worldwide empire. Despite these many global upheavals, theirs remained the biggest bank in the world up until the First World War, their interests extending far beyond the realm of finance. Yet the Rothschilds' failure to establish themselves successfully in the United States proved fateful, and as financial power shifted from London to New York after 1914, their power waned. Ferguson was granted unrestricted access to the three surviving Rothschild archives- including documents hidden for more than half a century by the KGB- and has synthesized material from tens of thousands of letters, including many in hitherto untranslated Judendeutsch. This book is also a family saga. Ferguson explores the central importance of family unity and the profound role of Judaism in the lives of the Rothschilds, who themselves rose from the impoverished confines of the Frankfurt ghetto and later used their legendary wealth to assist oppressed Jews throughout Europe. A work of impeccable scholarship, this is a definitive biography that strips away two centuries of mythology and brings to life the most powerful and fascinating dynasty of the nineteenth century. -- from Back Covers. |
Contents
ONE Charlottes Dream 18491858 | 3 |
TWO The Era of Mobility 18491858 | 50 |
THREE Nationalism and the Multinational 18591863 90 | 90 |
Copyright | |
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Alfred Alphonse Alphonse's Amschel Anselm Anthony April Austrian bankers Banque de France Barnbougle Castle Berlin Bismarck Bleichröder bonds Bouvier Britain British brothers Cambridge capital cent Charlotte Churchill City Corti Court cousins and nephews Crédit Lyonnais Crédit Mobilier crisis debt diplomatic Disraeli economic English Rothschilds favour Ferdinand foreign Frankfurt French Rothschilds German Gille Gladstone Gold and iron Gustave Hatfield House Ibid interest investment issue Italian Italy James James's Jewish Jews July July 17 July 24 June Kynaston later letters Liberal Lionel loan London London house Lord Rothschild Maison Rothschild March March 14 March 20 Mayer Carl million francs Minister N. M. Rothschild Napoleon Natty Natty's NMR to deRF Paris house Pereires political profits railway Rhodes Rosebery Roth Rothschild houses Russian Salomon schilds seemed Sept shares tion undated Vienna