Our Crowd: The Great Jewish Families in New York [Hardcover]

Stephen Birmingham (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers (April 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579124356
• ISBN-13: 978-1579124359
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #552,278 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting insight behind these powerful families, May 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Our Crowd: The Great Jewish Families of New York (Modern Jewish History) (Paperback)

I thought this book did a wonderful job of describing the people behind the names, money, and power of these families. It provided a detailed, colorful history of how the founding family members came to this country; the trials and tribulations they encountered along the way; and how they overcame all of these things on their way to achieving thier ultimate financial and social status. The story of these families personifies the American dream - That a strong will, intelligence, and hard work are the keys to success. In addition, the book sheds light on the social, class, and religous biases that were perpetuated by the success of these families, biases that remain in place today within the Jewish community.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging history, July 30, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Our Crowd: The Great Jewish Families of New York (Modern Jewish History) (Paperback)

A very interesting history of the great Jewish families of New York. Birmingham flings the door open on some of the most reclusive and secretive oligopolies in business history. Not only is it an eye opening history of the German jews in New York but it is engaging and interesting to read. It does not read like a textbook. Birmingham has really done his homework. If you want to learn about some real eccentric/succesful personalities and about the German jewish families ofNew York, this is the best book on the subject.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Facinating and wonderfully written, February 17, 2007

By 

Davis "I heart books" (Queens, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Our Crowd: The Great Jewish Families in New York (Hardcover)

I picked this book up on a whim not knowing what to expect and I was pleasantly surprised. Takes you through the history of the German Jewish banking families from the early 1800's when they were in dry goods; ends with the genesis of some of the most influential banking houses in the world. Lehman Brothers started out as cotton brokers in Alabama ... Marcus Goldman used to walk around downtown with commercial paper stuffed in his hat ... August Belmont was a pioneer of being fashionably late ... a number of them used to summer near Long Branch, New Jersey which is now an enclave of Brazilian wood flooring contractors.

There were definitely portions that dragged a bit, but it's made up for by being wonderfully written. A quick read and if you don't like it, doubles nicely as a coaster.