by H. W. Brands
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Product Description
An "insightful" (Publishers Weekly) history of the development of American capitalism and the men who made it great.
Most Americans are familiar with the political history of the United States, but there is another history woven all through it, a largely forgotten history—the story of the money men. Acclaimed historian H. W. Brands brings them back to life: J. P. Morgan, who stabilized a foundering U.S. Treasury in 1907; Alexander Hamilton, who founded the first national bank, and Nicholas Biddle, under whose directorship it failed; Jay Cooke, who helped to finance the Union war effort through his then-innovative strategy of selling bonds to ordinary Americans; and Jay Gould, who tried to corner the market on gold in 1869 and as a result brought about Black Friday and fled for his life.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 A "Taste" on the subject, 2008-03-04
I have long been a fan of HW Brands - In fact he is the author of two of my favorite works on US History ("The First American" and "The Age of Gold") However, what has consistently made Brands a favorite of lovers of American history is missing in "The Money Men" - that is his amazing attention to personal details. Typically, Brands is able to bring his subjects alive like no other. Unfortunately, "The Money Men" is a very brief glimpse at five loosely associated men... each is given between 30-50 pages.
The result of Brands work is an overview of the formation of the banking industry in the United States. I would approach "The Money Men" as a way to decide if you would like to tackle one of the more complete books on the subject... such as Chernow's masterful books on JP Morgan, Rockefeller, and Alexander Hamilton (And I highly recommend each of them).
A final note.... at the time of publishing this review the price of "The Money Men" is less than three dollars. This is an outstanding price - and definitely worthy of a place in your library at this price!
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 A history of American central banking, 2008-02-18
It is VERY difficult to make an interesting book on the history of central banking and money in the US, especially without a pet agenda ("Bring back the gold standard!" or "Outlaw Central Banks!"). The Money Men contains American history, Economic history and Banking history, linked together in the stories of Alexander Hamilton, JP Morgan, and the powerful bankers between them.
Does is succeed in being a page-turner? Not really - it's best read in several sittings. Does it avoid partisanship? Depends on the wording... While largely unbalanced, "Capitalism vs. Deomcracy" paints a biased view of the participants. "Capital driven democracy versus Economic populist democracy" could be less biased words. But all that said, the book certainly beats other alternatives of US central banking histories....
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 5 poor biographies, 2007-10-28
I was expecting to read a brief history of the US monetary system and, in particular, the contribution thereof by each of Brand's five "money men". Instead I got a series of disjoint, narrow biographies on five guys who helped shape American banking.
To be sure, the book has its moments, for example, there is an interesting discussion about the way in which funds for the civil war were raised through war bonds -- but it is apparently left as an exercise to the reader to consider how this approached changed the US economy in any broader sense (other than that it helped the North win the war). There is no over-arching description of how each man contributed to the current system or how their work impacted the monetary system over time. Part of the problem - a few specific exceptions aside - is that Brand does not paint any broad strokes that would give the reader an idea about what the economic, monetary and political climate were like during the lives of each of the men. I was left wanting for more thorough discussion concerning the monetary and economic issues of the era.
Perhaps there is a book that describes the continuous evolution of American banking, money and capital markets, but this one isn't it.
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
"The Money Men" intriguing ..., 2007-02-10
I found this book to be a bit of a challenge, since it takes the reader through the history of U.S. money from before the nation's establishment as a country independent from the crown of England, and the accompanying tax structure, all the way through the Federal Reserve days of Alan Greenspan. Yet what I learned about the men profiled in this book gave me a glimpse of their "inner workings" and how their business - and personal - biases have had an affect on the entire development of the U.S. An excellent read.
4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Another great contribution from Dr. Brands, 2007-01-05
Dr. Brands never disappoints. His research and witty style makes him a must-read in any topic on American history. Here, he's taken what some might consider a dry economics topic and turned it into a pleasurable experience that will help anyone understand this important current in the course of our country.
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