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Title: Morgan : American Financier by Jean Strouse, Random House Inc. ISBN: 0-06-095589-9 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 April, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.86 (29 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Insightful!
Comment: Author Jean Strouse presents an in-depth historical account of J. Pierpont Morgan's life and times as a preeminent financier during the expansion of the American economy in the late 1800s and early 1900s. She details the deals he engaged in to raise capital in Europe, help the railroads overcome bankruptcy, and provide bonds and loans to clients. She also details his role in working with other financial leaders and government officials to stabilize markets and - at a time when the U.S. had no national bank - to set up many of the corporate and financial structures we now take for granted. We at getAbstract.com were particularly interested in Strouse's descriptions of the political, economic, and social history of each period as a backdrop for Morgan's life. Morgan comes alive in her descriptions of his family life, travels, and art collection. This excellent, comprehensive biography will intrigue executives, managers, historians and anyone who appreciates war stories about a master dealmaker.
Rating: 5
Summary: Amazing historical perspective
Comment: Strouse goes into amazing detail (at times a bit thick, but always fascinating) as she charts Morgan's entire life--out of which context emerge the outlines of a number of the most significant shifts in emerging global finance coming out of the American Civil War: 1) moving captial to the US from Europe to refinance Civil War debt and contribute to the building of the US industrial base 2)a broad shift from debt-based financing to equity-based financing, and 3)the (at the time) scandalous shift in valuing companies from book-value to multiples of earnings (the financial media of the day descried that Morgan, at one point, got international backing for a shipping combination valued at between 2 and 3 times annual revenues).
Insights the Strouse bio makes accessible inform the daily world around us in bounteous ways that make this book an incredibly worthwhile (as well as compelling) read. In this morning's WSJ, there was discussion of Iran now making good on previously nationalized assets so as to make Iran a more attractive place for international investors; the discussion of the bond market in light of the stock market's powerful gains continues; and individual investors as well as institutions are forever coming to terms with the fact that the market continues to support companies with what have traditionally been considered wildly high p/e ratios.
Add to the mix that Morgan was a fascinating man--as interested in the details of the dresses he had made for his wife, daughters, and mistresses as in the contents of his library, the speed of and fittings on his latest yacht, as well as the characters of the men who worked for him and with whom he chose to form investing syndicates, and you have a delightful, powerful biography.
Rating: 3
Summary: A Decent Biography
Comment: Jean Strouse has tackled a fascinating biographical subject in this book, John Pierpont Morgan. Morgan was the kingpin of the fledging American financial industry from before the Civil War until his death just before World War I. Morgan's firm helped to bring European capital to the United States that helped financial the great industrial boom of the later 19th Century and constructed huge corporate mergers like U.S. Steel in 1901. Morgan's sound financial dealing led to be highly respected both on Wall Street and off. In 1907, his stature with leading financial institutions helped him engineer a stop to a panic that threatened Wall Street. Morgan was an extremely wealthly man and later in life used that wealth to finance the Metropolitan Museum of Art and to build his own extensive art collection. Morgan had more of a European attitude toward marriage and after his own marriage began to deteriorate in 1880 or so, kept mistresses for the remainder of his life. He was also very involved with the Episcopal Church, taking three weeks out of his busy schedule every three years to attend the Church meetings, and in yachting, helping to finance several America's Cup winners.
Strouse obviously spent a tremendous amout of time researching her subject. In an interview she said that she had gained access to previously untapped copies of letters and diaries of both Morgan and his inner circle. Her book details Morgan's life in almost painstaking detail - from his financial dealings to his art acquisitions to his affairs to his relationship with his father. The author also does a good job and giving us background information about the period in which Morgan lived - the social conditions, the progressive movement and various presidential elections. This is important because all of these factors effected how Morgan conducted his business and how he was viewed by the press and public at the time.
Unfortunately, for all of her research, this is not a very readable biography. The writing is some what bland and uncolorful. The author does a serviceable job trying to explain the complex financial dealings that ruled Morgan's world but often bogs the reader down in figures. I felt as if I needed a degree in finance just to understand the way Morgan shifted around stocks and bonds. It was push for me to finish this book, often times I had trouble wanting to pick it up and continue.
There are few recent biographies of this important 19th century character available, which is why I was excited when I saw Strouse's biography of Morgan. Morgan is a man shrouded in the myth and legend of his financial dealings and I was hoping this biography would shed some light on the man. One cannot fault Strouse's extensive research into her subject however her writing style bogs down the information and makes the book difficult to complete.
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Title: Titan : The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow ISBN: 0679757031 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 07 September, 1999 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance by Ron Chernow ISBN: 0802138292 Publisher: Publishers Group West Pub. Date: 15 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: Carnegie by Peter Krass ISBN: 0471386308 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: 30 August, 2002 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: The House of Rothschild: Money's Prophets, 1798-1848 by Niall Ferguson ISBN: 0140240845 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: November, 1999 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: The House of Rothschild: The World's Banker 1849-1998 by Niall Ferguson ISBN: 0140286624 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 05 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $19.00 |
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