Gilded Leaf: Triumph, Tragedy, and Tobacco : Three Generations of the R J Reynolds Family and Fortune [Hardcover]

Patrick Reynolds (Author), Tom Shachtman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1989

This is an account of three generations of the Reynolds tobacco family. R.J.Reynolds was the business genius who founded the company, but his two sons were profligate playboys and his grandsons were all disinherited by their father. The author of the book is one of them.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Readers of this captivating account of the R. J. Reynolds tobacco clan may need to remind themselves that it is not fiction. There are colorful characters, a family rising from humble be ginnings to attain fabulous wealth and power, scandal and tragedy wrought by excess--and an irony-laden finale. Concentrating on the period from the turn of the century to the present, but going back as far as 1828, Reynolds, grandson of R. J., and Schactman ( The Phony War ) explore the workings of a family whose success was a major contributor to the anguish of some of its members. Among these are Dick Reynolds, quintessential Jazz Age playboy who married four times and died of the combined effects of using alcohol and tobacco; Smith Reynolds, daredevil pilot who flew around the world, married twice and died of a gunshot wound--possibly inflicted by his wife--at age 20; and R. J. (Richard Joshua), shrewd, remarkably civic-minded paterfamilias who built the family fortune. Coauthor-descendant Reynolds has put a nice twist on the family history by becoming a crusader for the anti-smoking movement. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Reynolds, one of the disinherited scions of the great tobacco fortune, and Shachtman, a writer, have penned an engrossing narrative of wealth and woe. The lives and times of the Reynolds family are the stuff of which good pulp novels and bad soap operas are made. Their great wealth (the magnitude of which is truly astounding) did not insulate them from misfortune. Most of the book is concerned with founder R.J.'s son Dick (Patrick's father), who died mysteriously in 1964. Dick was a wildly intemperate man, and his relationships with his six sons are fodder for psychoanalysis. Patrick, now a noted antismoking activist, has created a cathartic book for himself. For the rest of us, it is a lurid, well-written book with timeless lessons in between the lines. Recommended.
- David M. Turkalo, Social Law Lib . , Boston
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Little Brown & Co (T); 1st edition (March 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316741213
• ISBN-13: 978-0316741217
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #449,595 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #13 in Books > Business & Investing > Job Hunting & Careers > Job Markets & Advice

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smokin'!, June 26, 2007

By 

Kimmie "Bookworm" (North of Mayberry) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gilded Leaf: Triumph, Tragedy, and Tobacco: Three Generations of the R. J. Reynolds Family and Fortune (Paperback)

Excellent tale of the Reynolds family. The authors have written a wonderfully engrossing tale of wealth, privilege, tragedy, & heartache. Highly recommended!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A gilded history, October 18, 2007

By 

Kenneth Brosky (Milwaukee, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Gilded Leaf: Triumph, Tragedy, and Tobacco: Three Generations of the R. J. Reynolds Family and Fortune (Paperback)

I had the opportunity to receive an original hardcover copy of this book some time ago, and was immediately captivated by the story, which indeed plays out more like a fictional novel than the history of a true-life family. This isn't just about how one family developed a tobacco empire, this is about how tobacco has influenced our culture, our way of life, and the very way our country goes about its daily business. Not necessarily disapproving of tobacco in general, Reynolds prefers to simply tell the story and let the actions of the characters, of the company itself, influence the reader's opinion.

Kudos to Booksinprint for putting this book back into print ... it's a welcome keyhole into the private life of one of the country's most influential tobacco barons.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quite an Eye Opener, January 9, 2007

By 

Margot Mailand (Fort Myers, Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Gilded Leaf: Triumph, Tragedy, and Tobacco: Three Generations of the R. J. Reynolds Family and Fortune (Paperback)

This past summer I visited Winston Salem and was given a great tour of the area from a person who's granddaddy was a friend of Dick Reynolds. During the tour he was telling me a lot of the history of the town which I found very fascinating. When he told me that Patrick Reynolds had written a book about the family, I just had to read it. It is hard to believe when you read it that it is a true story as it reads like a novel that would have made one heck of a TV saga. I found it very educational, interesting and very entertaining. I'm so glad I bought it.