As Americans cope with the social and industrial changes wrought by the computer age, we seem ready to view with more sympathy the men who shaped the similarly disruptive economic revolution at the turn of the last century. Less than a year after Titan, Ron Chernow's sweeping biography of capitalist par excellence John D. Rockefeller, comes Jean Strouse's searching analysis of J.P. Morgan (1837-1913), the merchant banker whose financial prowess enabled the great American businesses to grow and thrive. Like Chernow, Strouse takes a nuanced view of a man reviled by his contemporaries as a sinister monopolist. Morgan sought to stabilize the volatile American economy and raise the cash needed to fuel its meteoric expansion. His methods were controversial, particularly his fondness for industrial "combinations" that dampened competition, but Strouse's lucid résumé of the historical backdrop illuminates the thinking behind Morgan's actions. As in her groundbreaking biography Alice James, the author never settles for received wisdom, instead reading previously neglected documents with a sharp eye to offer a fresh interpretation. She vividly limns Morgan's imperious personality and such extracurricular interests as his superb art collection. But it's Strouse's ability to clearly convey complex financial material that distinguishes this book. Her chapter on the panic of 1907, which Morgan was instrumental in halting, is as exciting as a good thriller and far more instructive. --Wendy Smith

History has remembered J. Pierpont Morgan as a complex and contradictory figure, part robber baron and part patron saint. Now this magisterial biography, based extensively on new material, draws a definitive, full-scale portrait of Morgan's tumultuous life both in and out of the public eye.Morgan earned his reputation as "the Napoleon of Wall Street" by reorganizing the nation's railroads and creating some of its greatest industrial trusts, including General Electric and U.S. Steel. At a time when the United States had no Federal Reserve System, he appointed himself a one-man central bank. He had two wives, three yachts, four children, six houses, mistresses, and one of the finest art collections in America. In this extraordinary book, award-winning biographer Jean Strouse vividly portrays the financial colossus, the avid patron of the arts, and the entirely human character behind all the myths.

Brilliantly crafted, epic in scope, Morgan reveals a man we have never seen before, offering new insights on the culture, political struggles, and social conflicts of America's Gilded Age.

"Morgan: American Financier" is the most thorough biography I have ever read. The book also does a good job of giving the reader a sense of the times that Morgan lived in.

Jean Strouse's enthusiasm for her subject is incredible. The level of detail that she was able to supply in many instances goes far beyond the normal biography. After awhile I became numb to some of these details. I didn't care how many shares were exchanged to take control of another company or how the shares were split up between financing partners.

There were other times when the author's enthusiasm might have been better served had it been reigned in a little bit. For instance, she spent three pages on Morgan's librarian's father, who never met or had anything to do with Morgan. Yes, that's right...his librarian's father was worth three pages of coverage. But that's just me nitpicking because I got tired of sifting through digressions like this.

Overall I believe "Morgan: American Financier" to be a very well done biography that presents an even-handed treatment of the life of J. Pierpont Morgan.

This biography of J.P. Morgan is a yawner. Wading through this book lets you know about Morgan but you never get to know the man.
Strouse goes into mind numbing detail on his art collection and mistesses while lightly touching on his financial deals. She follows tangents to the point of losing the reader. At times it felt as though she just strung all her notes together to make this book.
The very rare nuggets to the understanding of Morgan are not worth the time or money.

Jean Strouse tries to get beyond the myths, both positive and negative, and show us the living breathing man that was J.P. Morgan and she does a remarkable job. Strouse is the kind of biographer who immerses herself fully in her subject when she writes a book and her commitment to the project is legendary at The Morgan Library where Strouse toiled in the archives for years. Her research shows; "Morgan: American Financier" is authoritative and deep. Strouse shows takes inside Morgan's family and personal life as well as deep into his business dealings. We get the full sweep of his professional and personal power; his personal challenges, demons, principles, and pleasures.

Morgan was a man who was larger than life in his own time. He was the consummate guardian of the "Gentleman Banker's Code" - a Victorian notion of serving the greater good through serving the client that formed the heart of the finance culture - with some Protestant spiritual overtones thrown in. Morgan's bank, with its twin loci on either side of the Atlantic, sat astride the flow of capital between England and the US. In the 19th Century English capital investment was vital for American industrial development and Morgan helped tame the destructive competitive business practices displayed in the railroad wars where rival rail lines would squander millions building parasitic parallel lines in an effort to drive the competition out of business. Morgan learned the lesson that cutthroat competition was wasteful of investor's capital and he ever after strove to build peaceful vast monopolies. This kind of business value system seems at odds with our current notion of free market capitalism it certainly wasn't very popular with labor or with those who feared the power of vast trusts. Vast trusts were Morgan's specialty. He personally assembled the first billion dollar stock offering in knitting together the vast majority of US steel production into US Steel. He set up a host of other vast monopolistic conglomerates including General Electric, International Telephone & Telegraph, International Harvester, International Mercantile Marine, and a host of railroad accumulations (just to mention the highlights). In defending foreign investment interests he defended the dollar's value on the International market by defending the gold standard - putting him at odds with bimetallism and William Jennings Bryan. In the East Room of his fabulous 36th St. Library there is a huge 16th century tapestry representing the sin of greed. Morgan clearly thought of himself as a force for moral order among robber baron thieves. When JP Morgan died he left less than $120 million - a figure that shocked many people who had figured he was worth far more. Morgan assembled vast economic power through board voting proxies with the goal of orchestrating a smoother running economy for the profit of his clients. While Morgan did good business on legitimate business, he didn't skim or abuse his position (granted "insider trading" wasn't considered a sin in those days - if it was done discretely). JP Morgan died in 1913 a year after the Titanic (which was built by IMM - his new shipping trust; thus stressing Morgan doubly because he had friends who died on board and the disaster stood to devastate the bottom line of a huge project/client of his) and the Pujo hearings where Morgan was grilled for his role in resolving the Panic of '07 which involved a massive hat trick of capital and political manipulation that featured putting Teddy Roosevelt over a barrel and forcing him to approve a critical bit of monopolistic corporate takeover business for the US Steel concern, staunching a run on the banks, and bailing out a bankrupt New York City government - all in the same month! That kind of power scared the heck out of many and spurred the establishment of the Federal Reserve.

Much of this ground had been covered back in 1990 with Ron Chernow's superb "The House of Morgan". What sets Strouse's book apart is the story of Morgan's personal and emotional life and how she weaves the business story into context with Morgan's private life. JP Morgan was a dynamo riven by contradictions. Notoriously intense - Edward Steichen, the photographer - after taking Morgan's portrait, said that "meeting Morgan's gaze was like confronting the headlights of an express train". He was also a portly man whose nose was horribly deformed due to a disease called rhinophyma. That didn't stop Morgan from having numerous flirtations and affairs and a vibrant public social life. JP Morgan was a man dominated by a stern and judging father, Junius, who dictated JP Morgan's life until Morgan was fully an adult and in charge of the banking empire. For example, Morgan fell in love with Amelia Sturges ("Mimi") and married her despite the fact that she was dying of tuberculosis and wasn't a strategic match. She died on their honeymoon, emotionally devastating JP. Junius stepped in and selected JP's next wife, Frances Louisa Tracy, "Fanny" - based on sound socio-economic factors. Fanny was shy, staid, and retiring; a poor match to JP's fiery extroverted nature. Over time they ended up living entirely apart - each one spending half the year on the opposite side of the Atlantic from the other. Morgan frequently traveled with other women - chaperoned by his daughter Louisa. But Morgan was also devoutly religious and was very active in his church's management and fiscal affairs. He was involved with selection of the pastor - a man who became one of Morgan's closest lifelong friends. Morgan's ferocious business pace drove many of his partners to work to death. Morgan found solace and refuge in yachting and his yachts are legendary (one was fitted with cannon and depth charge launchers and used for U-boat hunting in WWI by the US Navy).

But Morgan's greatest love was art. At the time of his death, fully half of his vast fortune was reckoned to be in his art collection. Many consider it to have been the finest art collection ever assembled. During Morgan's lifetime, much of that art remained in his London mansion. After his death, sadly, his son Jack couldn't keep it together for perpetuity because of economic and political reasons. Morgan's first artistic passion was books. The books he brought to New York and later in his life he commissioned probably the world's most impressive private library - now known as The Morgan Library & Museum. He hired the voluble, coquettish, and brilliant Belle DaCosta Greene in 1905 to be the Library's first director and curator. Belle Greene is a fascinating character in her own right - receiving a good introduction here (and warranting her own extensive biography "An Illuminated Life: Belle da Costa Greene's Journey from Prejudice to Privilege" by Heidi Ardizzone). The Library became Morgan's business office in his later years and the banking community nicknamed it "the uptown branch". Much of Morgan's later history - including his artful handling of the Panic of '07 - happened there. Morgan's art collecting transcended personal pleasure. Like his professional life he was clearly trying to lead and shape the United States. In amassing such important cultural holdings he was attempting to raise America closer to his beloved England's cultural stature.

Comprehensive, personal, meticulously researched and annotated; Jean Strouse has written the definitive biography of an epic life.

A good history of not only the man, also of american politics and finance.
The real workings between BIG Business and the men who created them

BECAUSE OF THE SUPERB CHAPTER ON ONE OF THE MOST CRITICAL PERIODS IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES - THE PANIC OF 1907 - THIS MAKES THIS BOOK THE PREMIER BOOK ON THIS PERIOD IN MY OPINION. M GORDON