House of Rothschild: The World's Banker 1848-1999

"A great biography..." --Time

"Absorbing....Their enthralling story has been told before, but never in such authoritative detail." --The New York Times Book Review

Formidable...rich and compelling...a feast," said The Wall Street Journal of Niall Ferguson's House of Rothschild: Money's Prophets, the first volume in his myth-shattering chronicle of the legendary, secretive Rothschild banking dynasty. Business Week, admiring its "fluid, masterful synthesis," named it one of the best business books of 1998.

Now, with all the depth, clarity, and drama with which he traced their ascent, Ferguson--the first historian with access to the long-lost Rothschild archives--captures in House of Rothschild: The World's Banker this far-flung family at the zenith of its power: its intricate relationships, and its unparalleled business finesse in the most unstable of times. Until the eve of the First World War they wielded power greater than that of any bank today. The root of their decline--failure to establish a sixth house in the new world financial center of New York--is pinpointed in this dynamic conclusion.

"This is a major achievement of historical scholarship and historical imagination. Ferguson's work reaffirms one's faith in the possibility of great historical writing." --Fritz Stern