Share <Embed>

Buy Used

$7.98

FREE Shipping on orders over $25.

Used: Good | Details

Sold by Hawthorne Academic

Fulfilled by Amazon

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

See All Buying Options

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 3 images

The Warburgs: The Twentieth-Century Odyssey of a Remarkable Jewish Family Paperback – August 23, 1994

by Ron Chernow (Author)

87 customer reviews

See all 11 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Hardcover

"Please retry"

—

$57.21

$10.00

Paperback

"Please retry"

$13.85

$13.77

$9.72

Paperback, August 23, 1994

—

$12.83

$2.48

Audible, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Bankers, philanthropists, scholars, socialites, artists, and politicians, the Warburgs stood at the pinnacle of German (and, later, of German-American) Jewry. They forged economic dynasties, built mansions and estates, assembled libraries, endowed charities, and advised a German kaiser and two American presidents. But their very success made the Warburgs lightning rods for anti-Semitism, and their sense of patriotism became increasingly dangerous in a Germany that had declared Jews the enemy.

Ron Chernow's hugely fascinating history is a group portrait of a clan whose members were renowned for their brilliance, culture, and personal energy yet tragically vulnerable to the dark and irrational currents of the twentieth century.

The Warburgs: The Twentieth-Century Odyssey of a Remarkable Jewish Family

Available from these sellers.

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Ron Chernow

249

Paperback
$16.92
Ron Chernow

565

Paperback
$10.08
Ron Chernow

17

Paperback
$12.20
Ron Chernow

1,020

Paperback
$15.75
Niall Ferguson

127

Paperback
$20.80
Ron Chernow

306

Hardcover
$23.99

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Ron Chernow

306

Hardcover
$23.99
Ron Chernow

1,020

Paperback
$15.75
Ron Chernow

249

Paperback
$16.92
Ron Chernow

565

Paperback
$10.08
Ron Chernow

17

Paperback
$12.20
Ron Chernow

565

Hardcover
122 offers from $5.97

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

All three of Ron Chernow's books are lengthy and solidly researched, but his background as a journalist shows in his ability here to convey complex material in terms of vivid characters and a well-defined theme. As in his National Book Award-winning business history (The House of Morgan) and his comprehensive biography of John D. Rockefeller (Titan), in The Warburgs Chernow employs marvelously detailed material to trace a single overarching story: the riveting and ultimately tragic odyssey of German Jews. The Warburgs were Hamburg's preeminent banking family from the 18th century until Hitler's Third Reich forced them to hand over their business to Aryans in 1938. But they also boasted among their family members a celebrated art historian (Aby Warburg), a Nobel Prize-winning scientist (Otto Warburg), and the financial angel of the New York City Ballet (Edward Warburg). Two of the "Famous Five" brothers married American women at the turn of the 20th century and became honored members of the Wall Street establishment, so Chernow's lively narrative imparts important U.S. social and economic history as well. But don't let all those fancy credentials intimidate you: The Warburgs features enough flamboyant personalities and high-class gossip to make this as entertaining a read as the latest issue of People magazine. --Wendy Smith

From Publishers Weekly

The rich, sprawling story of 400 years of a German-Jewish banking family by the author of The House of Morgan .
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product details

Paperback: 880 pages
Publisher: Vintage; Reprint edition (August 23, 1994)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0679743596
ISBN-13: 978-0679743590
Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.7 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
Average Customer Review: 87 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #778,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #683 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > Europe > Germany
- #2327 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Business
- #2691 in Books > History > World > Jewish

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE

Customer reviews

Write a customer review

See all 87 customer reviews

Rated by customers interested in

What's this?

Business & Economics Books

4.5 out of 5 stars

Historical Memoirs

4.5 out of 5 stars

Politics & Government Books

4.6 out of 5 stars

Is this feature helpful?

Thank you for your feedback.

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Howard Schulman

I wish it had been done better

April 25, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I imagine I'm going to get unhelpful votes by saying this, but this biography was not up to par with the author's other biographies. I've read Titan, which I thought was great, House of Morgan, which was really good, and Hamilton, which was also good, and this book just isn't up to those other books.

The beginning was very frustrating because we learn about this supposedly very successful and widely acclaimed and established German banking family, yet there is practically nothing concerning how they got to be well known and exceedingly wealthy, nor what their business dealings were at the time. And this lack of information goes on and on, focusing almost to exclusion on inter-personal issues.

Looking up the Warburgs in Wikipedia, I learned that the family had been a very successful banking family from the 1600's back in Venice, even before they settled in Warburg, Germany. Starting the narrative in the mid to late 1800's with the success of Jews in what was to become Germany just left me hanging and feeling like I was missing a large part of who the Warburgs were and how they got that way.

Additionally, the family had been around for a very long time and there are scattered references to visiting or staying with uncles and aunts, but the overall breadth of the family is not addressed.

Thinking about his problem now, it almost would make more sense and read better if there was a short intro and perhaps 10 separate bios on separate family members, instead of skipping around. It would help the flow. I have a feeling the author's inability to read German or Swedish or other European languages and his lack of primary research in Europe, where the Warburgs achieved fame and fortune, contributed to this incomplete biography.

On the other hand, it appears that not much had been written on the Warburgs prior to this book (at least in English), and that is why I read the book. Additionally, the whole build up to the Holocaust and how the Warburgs kept their warm feelings for Germany throughout the experience, as a constant theme, was very interesting and well done, especially since I'm Jewish. The reading got more focused and poignant the closer the Holocaust got and immediately afterwards.

3 or 3.5 stars is probably the best score, but will upgrade so I don't get canned too badly. If you're interested in the Warburg it's a good starter book, though I imagine if this weren't one of the first books Chernow wrote, he would have done a better job as a more mature and accomplished biographer.

0Comment 60 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

citizen fact checker

Very well researched, most informative and extremely well written.

January 11, 2009

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

A talented writer, to say the least, Mr. Chernow seemed to research this remarkable book with the aim of painlessly educating even the most reluctant reader about an international banking family. He writes so well that this tome is a page turner: hard to put down, not the least boring even when the focus is on economics--the dismal science, as it is called--and helps one understand why many German Jews were heartbroken to leave Germany even during Hitler's regime. The Warburgs were an outstanding family with energy that seemed to know no bounds though some family members were stricken with diabetes, psychological illnesses and even poverty at times. Amazing! I highly recommend this wonderful book.

0Comment 3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

Robert Drake

It is a very detailed account of an amazing family. I have been reading it on & ...

November 14, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

It is a very detailed account of an amazing family. I have been reading it on & off for over a month (get ready for a long ride), but I find myself having to return to follow the lives of these remarkable people. The principal members of the family are true humanitarians, & money is not their central focus. They have it, but how they use it is to their credit. Their contributions throughout the financial world is a testimony to their intelligence & dedication.
R Drake

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

Shirley Keaster

A history and saga of one family in Germany

November 20, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Captivating story that is loaded with history.
The lineage of the family as well l their relationship to each other. The dynamics of the Warburgs to Germany and the false notion that they were safe from the Nazi take over because of their love of their homeland, their contributions, and their extreme wealth and power.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

October 28, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

The book was exactly as advertised & arrived promptly. Thank you.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?

Yes

Amazon Customer

... of Ron Chernow's books but this is my absolute favorite and incredibly powerful

December 27, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I am a big fan of all of Ron Chernow's books but this is my absolute favorite and incredibly powerful. I find my mind drifting back to this story over and over again whenever I have moments of solitude. Incredible.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

Judy Teiwes

Five Stars

October 14, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

What an amazing family.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?

Yes

Amazon Customer

fabulous. Well written and very well researched.

June 1, 2017