The House of Rothschild: Volume 1: Money's Prophets: 1798-1848

Oxford 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.