The House of Rothschild: The World's Banker 1849-1999

From 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. At once a classic family saga and a major work of economic, social, and political history, The House of Rothschild is the definitive biography of one of the most powerful firms of the nineteenth century and the riveting story of an exceptional family. 546 pages.