Customer Reviews

The House of Rothschild: Volume 2: The World's Banker: 1849-1999

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

let me begin by saying that i am not in the habit of handing out five stars in my reviews, but this fine book certainly deserves it. i am not quite sure what to make of some of the criticisms leveled at this book in the reviews until now--too many facts, overly exhaustive, too much about continental finances or politics? can a definitive work of non-fiction have too many facts or be too exhaustive? what meaning do the rothschilds have if not in the context of continental politics. i loved every one of those three qualities about this book and, to boot, though it was appallingly well written as well. i found ferguson exhiliratingly (is this an adverb? it ought to be one) willing to assume that i could assimilate mass amounts of data, only sometimes arcane, and still want to follow a linear, only sometimes, social history--that's what definitive works are all about, i think. i applaud ferguson's not dumbing down history. and perhaps that is the difference between those who very much this book and those who didn't. i wanted to read history, and got it; others, perhaps, wanted to read a good yarn and didn't.

A very complete book, a mine of facts but the author was unable to sort what is important from miscellaneous. The mix of general european history, business history and family events is by moments as indigestible as porridge por a non-scot.

Ferguson insults the purchaser of the Penguin Paperback by omitting the bibliography and only providing sketchy footnotes. "Serious scholars" who desire these items are advised to buy the Harcover edition. Other than that, it is a good read

This thorough, long, and orderly history of the Rothschild banking dynasty is a deeply traditional business history text. It's full of coherent details, narrated clearly. There are thousands of footnotes, and a huge bibliography. As reference material, I'm sure it's flawless. It's obvious that the author accomplished his goal. But I wished for one meal described, one suit of clothes worn, one grand (or not-so-grand) apartment described. Alas, none of this is included in this story. Pitifully few tidbits flesh out this text. It's business history set against a background of world history, but neither the motivations nor the humanness of the Rothschilds is part of the picture. Ultimately, it disappoints.

The book had many facts and details that broke up the pace of the book for me. The author appears to be the first writer who has gained access to much of the Rothchild's historical records. He then has so many facts that any future writer of this family will have to footnote him till their big toe hurts. I have found Ron Chernow books well documented and that they read like a novel rather than a High School text book.

The second volume of the family saga is not as compelling as the first. Perhaps that is due to the length of time covered, or perhaps due to the relative decline of the Rothschilds in the world of finance. Still, this is a compelling story, which is skillfully narrated by Mr.Ferguson

What has Ferguson NOT told us about the Rothschilds in his seemingly exhaustive two volume set?

He all too facilely dismisses Victor Rothschild's being the fifth man in the World War II Soviet spy ring of Blunt, Burgess, et. al. Some evidence shows otherwise.

He does not note the 1776 Masonic Illuminati order of Adam Weishaupt with alleged connections to Mayer Amschel. And he doesn't discuss the Rothschilds' continued connection with Freemasonry at the highest level, and their gift to Israel of the Supreme Court building, a New World Order artifact, heavily laden architecturally with Freemasonry symbolism. (NWO as mentioned by President Bush Sr. in 1989.)

Likewise, glaringly absent from note are 19th, 20th, and 21st century Illuminati activities, which the family has been widely thought to be involved with. History Professor Ferguson could fill in his blanks on some vital but shady Rothschild history from Henry Makow, a researcher and writer--and a Jew.

According to an article on Ferguson in Harvard Magazine (May/June '07), he is taking on biographical writing of Henry Kissinger, at Kissinger's request. This should generate caution. Could Kissinger's "papers" be entirely relied on? Kissinger probably saw what sheen Ferguson could put on the raw material of Rothschild's archives, ignoring or minimizing important but dark concerns, and wanted some of that Ferguson gloss for himself.

Same question on the Warburg's family papers that he is availing himself of. What will Ferguson tell us about Paul Warburg's role in establishing the egregious Federal Reserve, and Max Warburg financing the Bolshevik revolution?

Let's hope that Ferguson can either put these and other allegations to rest once and for all or illuminate them if true--but now that he's shown his colors with the Rothschilds, I doubt that he will do so, either way.

It seems that sympathetic academic interest in these elitist families and individuals is inevitable in part because that is where the big bucks for research and publishing would be, especially for a scholar who professes to have, as he says in the Harvard Magazine article, "become a thorough philo-Semite".

Is there more than a whiff of opportunism here at the expense of objectivity and honest scollarship?

We may bump into the Rothschild family in reading about European, British, American, Jewish, or Israeli history. These well written volumes give us the full history of the family and the context of its endevors. Some of the financial details didn't resonate with me and may have been too extensive.

The Rothschilds made their fortune in government bonds and helping to finance the development of railways and a few other industries. I am left wondering why the family has been made the prime target of so many European anti-Semites. Perhaps without intention Niall Ferguson has made the founding ideologues of anti-Semitism look downright silly.

I agree with one of the critics that the book had many facts and details that broke up the pace of the book for me. Ferguson presumes that the reader knows a fair amount about bonds, consuls and other financial mechanisms. He would have done well to slow down a bit and explain a few of the terms and concepts. And I think that Ferguson tells an utterly superficial and innocuous history of the Family. Long awkward sentences make for labored reading. That having been said, this was no doubt a delicate and ambitious undertaking.

After reading the numerous glowing reviews I thought I would enter a story about a fascinating family during a turbulent period in history. Instead I felt as though I was reading a financial piece. Too much detail. I kept looking for the book to breakout and read like the reviews.It is rare that I do not finish a book but after 220 pages I gave up.