Download The House of Rothschild Volume 1 Money Prophets 17981848 Audible Audio Edition Niall Ferguson Alexander Adams Penguin Audio Books

Product details Audible Audiobook Listening Length 28 hours and 11 minutes Program Type Audiobook Version Unabridged Publisher Penguin Audio Audible.com Release Date January 15, 2019 Whispersync for Voice Ready Language English, English ASIN B07L5T55D7

The House of Rothschild Volume 1 Money Prophets 17981848 Audible Audio Edition Niall Ferguson Alexander Adams Penguin Audio Books Reviews

• BOOK REVIEW FERGUSON, Niall - The House of Rothschild Volume 2 The World’s Banker 1849-1998
  e-ISBN 978-1-101-15357-4
  Read April, 23 - June, 12th, 2017
  
  This second of two volumes on the history of The House of Rothschild, written by Harvard historian Niall Ferguson, continues the family’s adventures from the third to the fifth generation, and then up to the turn of the 21st century. With exception of the epilogue, which draws on public materials, the Author’s sources include the private correspondence of family members and is thus able to offer an original insight into the family’s history. Despite Ferguson’s clear and fluent prose, I sometimes felt lost in the narrative because of the growing number of family members, unable to know who was whom.
  
  As the first volume, this sequence has fourteen chapters grouped in three parts, plus an epilogue Uncles and Nephews (chapters 1-5 the quest for emancipation; the fast social transformations of 1849-1858; impacts of nationalism; of the transition to the gold monetary standard; and the death of James, the last surviving son, and events leading to the 1870 war); through those of Cousins (chapters 6-13 the aftermath of war; the distancing of fourth generation Rothschilds from banking; Sionism; diversification from banking and the building of the multinational mining empire; involvement with politics, mainly in Britain; imperialism; the Games of Alliances; the financing of the arms race preceding 1914), to the times of Descendants (chapter 14, about the apparent decline of the family between 1915 and 1945). The Epilogue covers the period from the War to the 21st century and hails a revival of the Rothschild role in the world.
  
  The text is illustrated with graphs, tables, diagrams and figures; some sources are transcribed in the appendixes. Sadly, illustrations are difficult to follow on certain models, and notes were suppressed in the paper and editions. The scholarly reader should prefer the hardcover edition.
  
  It is difficult to say which of the two volumes is the best one. As with the first, Ferguson seems keener on unmasking myths and giving his say, in the new light of the private correspondence, on every deserving question ever posed in the vast literature than on presenting new questions or contrasting the family with other banks and financial empires in order to understand how the family created value or what the several branches’ roles were in the several multinational companies he mentions, when the Rothschild thrift and creativity outgrew financial markets. If this second volume offers perhaps less vivid depictions of the cousins and descendants personalities, it gains in detail and, maybe helped by more reliable sources, offers a somewhat sounder narrative.
  
  I’m no Rothschild specialist and this is the first book I read on the subject, but it left me with the feeling this set of books probably is the state of art on the subject. It was certainly a great read, albeit extensive. I do not hesitate in recommending it.
• Wishing to learn more about the legendary Rothschild family I identified Niall Ferguson's as the best possible source for objective knowledge. And I wasn't disappointed. A little dry at times, I soldiered on through the least interesting bits of what I consider minutia (e.g. 10,000 rentes sold at 87 on September 12, 1842, etc.) to get to the picture of who the Rothschilds were back then leading up to who they are today which I look forward to learning in Volume II. As others have noted, this is an excellent book for students of finance and/or history but as a student of the Rothschilds themselves I was less interested in the microscopic details and much more captivated by the rise of this humble family from dirt-poor origins to taking their place on the world stage. To be fair to Mr. Ferguson, the details and minutia are part of what made their meteoric rise possible and he can't be faulted for his incredible attention to detail. To his immense credit, the author maintained an academic and analytically-balanced posture from page one to the end. Small bits of humor - most steeped in irony - pepper the pages adding even more flavor. For anyone interested in the the three key topics covered in this book - finance in the 19th century, 19th century world history and the Rothschilds themselves - this book will reward the reader with a treasure trove of knowledge.
• Interested in economic history? You will learn a great deal about the early development of the modern banking system (1790-1850 approximately) from this book. Not to mention the development of government fiscal and monetary practice. That is all to be expected, and the book delivers.
  
  But I was surprised, and interested, to find so much information about the position of Jews throughout Europe during the period, especially in the early chapters. Of course I had some general knowledge of the legal restrictions they faced, but now I have a much clearer picture. In Frankfurt, the place of origin for the Rothschilds, Jews were subjected to severe legal handicaps. How in the world did so many become doctors, scholars and bankers? I'm familiar with the ideas about how Jews turned in these directions because they had no other economic outlets. But as individuals, they also had to bring integrity, hard work and sheer grit. Beside a simmering sense of outrage I came to admire these people a whole lot.