A major work of economic, social and political history, Niall Ferguson's The House of Rothschild: The World's Banker 1849-1999 is the second volume of the acclaimed, landmark history of the legendary Rothschild banking dynasty. Niall Ferguson's House of Rothschild: Money's Prophets 1798-1848 was hailed as a 'great biography' by Time magazine and named one of the best books of 1998 by Business Week. An eminently readable, well researched biography. It is one-third a history of the Rothschild family, one third a portrait of Nica, and one-third a biography of Monk. Nica comes across as a remarkable woman, strong, feisty and rebellious' Sunday Times Theirs is a rags-to-riches story. The Jewish Ghetto of Frankfurt was one of the most repressive in Western or Central Europe. Begun in the 12th century it had not changed much in the 18th: the laws controlling the lives and livelihoods of Jews were very strict and repressive. The man who is considered the “founder” of the famous branch of the family, Mayer Amschel Rothschild (an Ashkenazi Jew) began life as the son of a respectable man, but not one of wealth. Both of his parents died before his thirteen birthday and after and apprenticeship in Hanover, he returned to Frankfurt in1764. The Rothschilds, it should be stressed, did not need to go to Cambridge, much mess Oxford, any more than they needed to sit in the House of Commons. The education of Rothschild children remained for most of the nineteenth century a much more cosmopolitan affair than the ancient English public schools and universities could provide. Thus the family continued to rely on private tutors and to send children abroad for a substantial part of their studies, to ensure above all that they maintained the family's multilingualism." (p. 43)

In the second generation most of the family’s wealth was spent “carefully”. Property investments were selected partly for comfort but also for business (either client relations, banking, or as money-earning investments). In the third and later generations (and James, as he lived into these later years), they began to buy and create grander and grander estates. At this time they also acquired many of the works of art that were lost in the confiscations of WWII. Nathan’s son, Nathaniel, who went and stayed in France, bought the vineyard today known as Mouton Rothschild in 1853. (Before the 1855 Classification of Bordeaux). Fifteen years later, Uncle James bought the much larger Chateau Lafite (Lafite Rothschild). Biting and satirical, but also poignant and moving, High Time is a delicious story of madness, mayhem, and mischief run amok' - Book BrowseAlso a senior Rothschild in 1870 after Germany defeated France had the remarkable intuition that if reparations/peace terms were too harsh it would be bad for Europe's economy overall and could threaten stability -- an observation long predating John Maynard Keynes's observation on the Treaty of Versailles. A full facsimile has been published: E. Trenkier, Rothschild Gebetbuch: facsimile und comentarium, Codices Selecti, 67 (Graz, 1979).

This is wonderful book which should be read by anyone interested in the history of France, England, and Germany. Several shortcomings of this book however should be noted. Niall Ferguson is an Oxford history professor who mistakenly believes that his rudimentary knowledge of finance also includes a basic understanding of the theory of financial markets. It does not which results in Ferguson arriving at some quite laughable conclusions. this is heaven for political geeks. More than the sheer thrill of having a camera placed at the heart of the government machine - where journalists are seldom allowed to tread - the documentary's main strength is that it is actually rather hilarious...We feel like flies on a tremendously interesting wall.' Peter Wozniak, Politics.co.uk Lines like "When a Jew lends to a noble, he owns that noble" sound conspiratorial now, but he is not wrong in seeing himself as the winner of the Napoleonic Wars. And you have to love that he would drunkenly horrify/entertain his guests later in life by putting on all the courtly uniforms of the courts that had knighted him. He trolls with the best. Ferguson gives us a fascinating view of the Rothschilds as they rise to riches and come to hold power. The Rothschilds used their influence to discourage war and to promote peace. As a consequence the pro-war parties in several countries launched propaganda campaigns about the undue influence of Jewish bankers in European politics. Niall Ferguson argues quite rightly that we would all be better off if Jewish Bankers did in fact control our politics as war costs lives, destroys property and creates poverty. Jewish Bankers in contrast want people to live long, amass property and become rich. James, Salomon and Nathan all came under conflicting pressures from the governments in Paris, Vienna and London: but the final outcome was a united and carefully calculated policy of non-commitment. (p. 132)

Become a Member

The Rothschild Prayerbook". Christie's. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Descriptive video. We love Hamilton, but perhaps we're not far enough away from the financial crisis to truly love Nathaniel Rothschild like we love Hamilton, but unlike the white Hamilton, Nathaniel is a continuous outcast Jew. A stupendous achievement, a triumph of historical research and imagination.”—Robert Skidelsky, The New York Review of Books The genius of this film is that it captures the bits in between to create an unforgettable portrait' Stephen Frears, The Evening Standard