Customer Reviews

"Our Crowd": The Great Jewish Families of New York (Modern Jewish History)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This was a very interesting account of the German-Jewish experience in the United States from the mid 19th century through the mid 20th century. It looks carefully at how a number of families rose stratospherically into the nation's financial elite within a short period of time. While the families were assimilated on some levels (particularly with respect to economic achievement), they clung to their German roots on other levels (as demonstrated by their American-born children being schooled in the German tradition, and by certain political views). Many members of this group saw themselves as being German before being Jewish, and this set up an intra-religious "pecking order" (a member of this group marrying a non-German Jew was apparently out of the question). I only wish that the book would be updated, as it ends in the late 1950s.

Having heard references to "Our Crowd," I now assume at least some were to this book, the 1st edition of which was published in 1967. There have been 14 editions published. It's amazing, the gang is all here. You get to find out all about how the great Jewish names in American business, particularly in the financial industry, got going in the 19th Century. This includes families with last names: Warburg; Seligman (this name gets the most coverage); Guggenheim (the one that made it in a non-financial industry); Schiff; Straus; Goldman; Sachs; Loeb and much more.

The individuals depicted worked hard, were discrete and hardcore-ambitious. Most had humble beginnings but became a kind of aristocracy, with summer homes in some of the most exclusive locales in America. They invented methods of doing business, and prospered.

I think Our Crowd can be inspirational, to some extent, in that tells of many individuals that made it big in the Horatio Alger sense. The rewards went to hard work, persistence, education and risk.

On the other hand, this book had many starts within it, and a great many detailed tangents. This made it often tedious to read, quite frankly. If the stories weren't true, the book would be unreadable due to broken threads of suspension, drama and continuity. The fact that the stories are true, however, makes Our Crowd a primary source to understand the history of American business.

IF YOU'VE EVER WONDERED ABOUT THE HISTORY OF A POWERFUL SEGMENT OF OUR SOCIETY, WHERE THEY CAME FROM, HOW THEY EVOLVED, THE INFLUENCE THEY HAD, BIRMINGHAM'S ACCOUNT OF THE RISE OF THE POWERFUL JEWISH FAMILIES IN NEW YORK THAT ESPECIALLY INFLUENCED OUR FINANCIAL COMMUNITY WILL FASCINATE YOU. IT READS ALMOST LIKE A NOVEL AND IS DIFFICULT TO PUT DOWN. YOU WILL COME TO KNOW WHO THESE PEOPLE WERE, THEIR PERSONALITIES, THEIR CHARACTERS, THEIR BRILLIANCE. IT'S A WONDERFUL READ!

This book has a lot of stories about my family, so I love it. However, for anyone who wants to hear how some large Jewish families made it in the US, this is a great book to begin with.

Nice book but I actually found it a little bit boring at the end. However, you should read it to get the full picture about investment banks that were created by Jews. I reccomend to read "The New Crowd" after you finish reading this book. You can say that "The New Crowd" is part II of "Our Crowd" even though it was written by different writers.

I read this book many years ago and found it yet another fascinating chapter, in that endlessly fascinating story of how Jews have lived through the generations. My guess is that the scions of a good share of the families chronicled here are no longer part of the Jewish world.
Here the question is raised of the mixed feelings created by ' successful Jews who are no longer very Jewish, or in other cases consciously and decidedly not Jewish.
The Schiffs, the Warburgs, the Belmonts, the Ochs- Sulzbergers , the Morgenthaus,et. al. .
Where are the Glories of Yesteryear?

The book was ordered, and never received. Although it was an inexpensive item (under $10), I would have liked to have received it. This is the first time this has happened to me on Amazon.