|
The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance (平装)
by Ron Chernow
| Category:
Biography, American capitalism, Modern finance |
| Market price: ¥ 228.00
MSL price:
¥ 208.00
[ Shop incentives ]
|
| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
This remarkable biography is the most ambitious history ever written about an American banking dynasty. |
| If you want us to help you with the right titles you're looking for, or to make reading recommendations based on your needs, please contact our consultants. |
|
| |
AllReviews |
1 Total 1 pages 6 items |
|
|
Walter Chang (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-18 00:00>
Chernow excellently portrays our country's most famous banking dynasty from its formation during the early 1800's to the late twentieth century. Throughout the book, readers are entreated with not only the history of the Morgan family but also the transformation of American banking and finance of the past two centuries.
The Morgan history began with Junius Morgan. He was concerned with establishing America's financial credit with European countries, which were very reluctant to lend money to a country that had been recently formed. Their doubts were reinforced when several American states repudiated payment on loans. In his efforts to preserve America's credit worthiness with Great Britain, Junius Morgan created a financial link between the Anglo-Saxon countries that would influence Morgan politics for the next century.
The most famous member of the family was J.P. Morgan, who presided over the bank during the Age of the Robber Barons. During his tenure, the Morgan bank would play the role of lender of last resort for America. Because laissez-faire capitalism was the prevalent practice during this era, only the Morgan bank under the energetic J.P. Morgan possessed the financial and political clout to organize efforts to stop widespread bank failures and catastophic stock declines. Despite being portrayed in the media by Populists as crooked and elitist, the Morgan bank continued to play this important role for the American economy and remained influential nationally even after the creation of the Federal Reserve System.
Although the Morgans were economically powerful, they possessed many human frailties. Many of the Morgan men were reluctant to participate in the family business. Even J.P. Morgan, despite his fame and power, was for most of his life fearful of his father and felt constantly nervous about the imperfections of his nose. Chernow is lauded for depicting the personal lives of the Morgan family.
Despite desperate attempts by the Morgan bank to remain influential and anonymous, the combination of the American public's demand for accountability, its fear of elitist organizations, and the rise of international finance and trade, divided the Morgan bank and forced its successors into such mundane practices as the public listing of its financial records and the offering of common stocks. The abandonment of such traditional practices as the Gentleman Banker's Code culminated in the merger mania of the 1980s, as Morgan Guaranty, Morgan Grenfell, and Morgan Stanley each sometimes assisted one client in acquiring another of its client.
From cooperation to cutthroat competition between bankers, the House of Morgan is filled with triumphs and tragedies of Morgan and American history. It is recommended for every American adult. I am looking forward to reading Titan.
|
|
|
A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-18 00:00>
Was it the writing or the main character that made this a fascinating read? answer- both! Chernow brought the character and his environment alive(early 20th Century New York merchant society),and what a character JP Morgan was! I read this book some years ago and what has remained with me ever since is the image of JP Morgan as a somewhat reluctant Titan. Sure he was larger than life and his famous piercing stare DOES come through in the photographs. You can easily imagine people hustling out of his way as he strode down Wall Street. Yet Chernow does a good job of humanizing the man, explaining clearly that he really had no choice (family upbringing, apprenticeship, business inheritance) all worked to make JP Morgan what he was. What also comes across is the fact that the Financial world at the time almost demanded and needed a JP Morgan. The early pioneering days of Wall street are vividly portrayed.JP Morgan's role in leading, cajoling, directing and bullying where necessary,to ensure that industries and markets developed - is explained clearly. You certainly get the sense that the man understood the times and took seriously his responsibility as a person of influence and power. Greed, surprisingly to me, does not seem to be a major factor in explaining JP Morgan. All in all an interesting insight into a bygone era and a fascinating character.
|
|
|
Kate Long (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-18 00:00>
The House of Morgan can serve as a proxy for the history of the American financial system before the establishment of the Federal Reserve. Morgan's influence on the world financial system was demonstrated by the raising of loans for the English, French and German governments. Morgan was also well known as the sponsor of many railroad bonds at the turn of the last century. As such the bank was instrumental in building the infrastructure which allowed the industrial revolution to bloom with enormous strenth here in America. It is said that at the turn of the century JP Morgan had underwritten half of the securities traded on the NYSE. Morgan's great strength was a function of the American/British arms of the bank and their ability to transfer capital and wealth between between the two nations. Each nation has had economic dominance in different periods of history. Yet many view JP Morgan as a villian or a greedy banker with dollar signs in his eyes. Ron Chernow's five star treatise on Morgan reveals him to be a deeply religious man who was intent on bringing orderly rationalization to the capital markets and restraining competition which he believed to be counter-productive in capitalist economy. He and his bank were deeply private and this work does a wonderful job of gently pulling back the curtain at 23 Wall Street.
|
|
|
A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-18 00:00>
This book is superbly written.
The House of Morgan tells a fascinating story of the Morgan family's dominance of the American banking industry. After reading this book, you will find out that it was not the famous one, J. Pierpont Morgan, who oversaw the greatest expansion of Morgan power but rather it was his son, Jack Morgan. This doesn't seem to be very known.
Even more interesting than the story of the Morgans and their various firms is the other story that this book tells - the story of the banking business. House of Morgan effectively chronicles the tremendous shift that occurred in the financial industry. When Pierpont opened shop in the 19th Century, banking was a clubby business, where decisions were made by consensus among men. Although certainly not inclusive or politically correct, it almost seems quaint in comparison to modern office life. It was far from the litigious, contentious style that seems to be present in the modern versions of these corporations. Chernow does a great job at depicting it all.
|
|
|
Marco Polo (MSL quote), Japan
<2007-01-18 00:00>
A huge door-stopper of a book. I wouldn't have read it if a friend had not recommended it. Once I'd started it, though, it grew on me: Chernow has written a very readable personal history of real people, warts and all (literally!), in writing this history of perhaps the most famous bank in the world.
Reviewing this book is not easy: one runs out of adjectives to describe
author Ron Chernow's success in handling the vast amounts of material
and information. I personally found the earlier parts (which are more about
individuals) more interesting and easier to read than the later parts (which,
as the times change, become more about larger numbers of smaller people; the
names and the companies proliferate to a mind-numbing swirl), and I lost interest
towards the end, skimming through to the parts that I found of particular
personal interest.
First, it's a history book, but one that not only impinges on the present (I find out how Chase Manhattan and Citibanks were born, for instance) but also comes right up to date (well, OK, it ends in the late 1980s).
Second, it's a history book that manages to be about both large-scale events
(like the 2 World Wars) and real, individual people (I learned that "J. P
Morgan" was actually 2 people - father and son). Chernow does a great
job of bringing all these people to life: many of them faced the same dilemmas as people today, and many of them (tho not all) were phenomenally successful, yet lived and died lonely, frustrated, or unhappy.
A fascinating tale, but definitely a book for a long vacation.
|
|
|
Serge Steenkiste (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-18 00:00>
In The House of Morgan, Ron Chernow gives a fascinating account of the rise to prominence of the Morgan, one of the world's most influential banking dynasties during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The author narrates, with much clarity, the metamorphosis of JP Morgan into a powerhouse during the Baronial Age, the taming and breakdown during the Diplomatic Age, and its comeback with a vengeance during the Casino Age. Furthermore, Chernow excels in giving life to the characters of the House of Morgan, their allies as well as foes, against the economic, political and social backdrop of their time. The reader progressively comes to the understanding of how much the US financial system is indebted to the domestic and overseas tribulations of a single bank. No other US bank has been able to emulate the power and influence that the House of Morgan has exercised under its various legal disguises since its birth in the City. The repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act does not offer the guarantee that JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, the current incarnations of the House of Morgan, will one day be reunited again. Powerful public and private interests probably have too much to fear and lose from the rise of the Phoenix from its ashes.
|
|
|
|
1 Total 1 pages 6 items |
|
|
|
|
|
|
