The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance

Ron Chernow

GROVE/ATLANTIC Incorporated, 2001 - Biography & Autobiography - 812 pages

The winner of the National Book Award and now considered a classic, The House of Morgan is the most ambitious history ever written about an American banking dynasty. Acclaimed by The Wall Street Journal as "brilliantly researched and written," the book tells the rich, panoramic story of four generations of Morgans and the powerful, secretive firms they spawned. It is the definitive account of the rise of the modern financial world. A gripping history of banking and the booms and busts that shaped the world on both sides of the Atlantic, The House of Morgan traces the trajectory of the J. P. Morgan empire from its obscure beginnings in Victorian London to the crash of 1987. Ron Chernow paints a fascinating portrait of the private saga of the Morgans and the rarefied world of the American and British elite in which they moved. Based on extensive interviews and access to the family and business archives, The House of Morgan is an investigative masterpiece, a compelling account of a remarkable institution and the men who ran it, and an essential book for understanding the money and power behind the major historical events of the last 150 years.

What people are saying

Review: The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance

User Review  - Dev - Goodreads

Meticulously researched, Chernow's book is an exhaustive look at the rise of the Morgan family and investment banking. Not as readable as his Rockefeller bio, Chernow nevertheless presents the ...

Review: The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance

User Review  - Joy - Goodreads

Fascinating story, although I must confess I found it a little too detailed for me! Nevertheless I found it compelling enough that I stuck with it to the end, and glad that I did. Read it when you have plenty of time, otherwise you can end up like me, taking WEEEEKS!!

About the author

Educated at Yale and Cambridge University in England, Ron Chernow is a biographer who specializes in hard-hitting exposes on historical business figures. Among Chernow's early accomplishments was his unmasking of corruption in Chinatown for New York magazine in 1973. In the book The House of Morgan, winner of the National Book Award in 1990, Chernow outlines the extraordinary path of J.P. Morgan's empire and its influence on the American banking industry. Chernow is also the author of Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, which chronicles the life and times of the richest man in the United States in the early 1900s. Chernow is regular guest on the National Public Radio programs Fresh Air with Terry Gross and All Things Considered.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance
• Author: Ron Chernow
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: GROVE/ATLANTIC Incorporated, 2001
• ISBN: 0802138292, 9780802138293
• Length: 812 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Business; Business & Economics / Banks & Banking; Business & Economics / Corporate & Business History