Ferguson shows convincingly how a family of Frankfurt antique dealers ascended the hierarchy of finance during the Napoleanic wars to become the richest individuals in history. Thanks to Mayer Amschel's five sons scattered across Europe, in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Naples and Vienna, and their family creed of "Concordia," the Rothshcilds were able to trade bills, bullion, and subsidies across the continent for both the French, and, more importantly, the allies, who needed funds for their scattered campaigns. In the post-bellum period, alliances with such nabobs as the British Treasury member John Charles Herries and infamous reactionary Austrian diplomat Prince Metternich, both of whom the Rothschild offered rich personal subventions, allowed them to dominate the world of government bonds, and thus dictate many government policies, especially those regarding war and peace. it was always a weakness of the conservative argument against higher taxation that in general private charitability at the turn of the century tended to fall short of the traditional 10 per cent" (p. 276) Let's look at the good side. Ferguson notes that the bonds issued by the Rothschilds would almost invariably rise and settle well above their initial strike price. Ferguson concludes correctly that this pattern was a clear sign of superior management. Indeed the Rothschilds chose their projects carefully. They underwrote responsibly which meant that their clients did not bankrupt themselves trying to pay debt beyond their resources but rather became richer because their borrowing costs were in proportion to their ability to pay.

Why were the French more willing to pay for defeat after the fact than to pay for the chance of victory before war broke out?" (re: Napoleon III's France's willingness to pay more money in reparations than for the initial war in 1870). (p.217) And while not everyone in the family may have been financially astute (or even keen on making it their career), they became (like many other late-Victorian/Edwardian era gentlemen botanists, naturalists, and other forms of scientists – with many writing learned papers on their subject.

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Ferguson explains that the Rothschilds refused to finance wars for two reasons. The first was that the loser of the war inevitably defaulted on its loans. The second was that the winner was so weakened by the fight that it defaulted half the time. Thus in an era when governments depended on banks for financing, the opinions of the Rothschilds were of considerable importance. The Rothschilds were a key part of the system that prevented war in Europe for 100 years between Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo and WWI. This is a sprawling, fascinating, deep and finally difficult work of history, one that offers an original glance at the 19th century through the eyes of the family that financed much of it. Robert Skidelsky, The New York Review of Books 'Niall Ferguson's brilliant and altogether enthralling two-volume family saga proves that academic historians can still tell great stories that the rest of us want to read'

Think my favorite takeaways were on the brilliance of the family's strategy in the latter half of the 19th century. Essentially by playing it more conservative and versus smaller (as they all were) competitors, it meant they both were unlikely to take stupid risks that could jeopardize the business and also would be unable to be seen as making unusually high profits that could invoke the wrath of any government that might have been in such a position. Double-edged sword though was growing number of heirs who found their portions of a pie not as generous as desired and many wishing to pull funds out of the business. The family remained Jewish in faith and race. They may not have been the most devout, buy they did observe the rules and laws and did not “convert” like many others (e.g. Benjamin Disraeli’s family.) When one of Nathan’s daughters did convert to marry, she was shunned by almost everyone including her own mother. They were seen as exemplars of successful Jews who also cared about their “co-religionists”; speaking out for tolerance and donating to community needs and causes. Having recently finished a biography of the Warburgs, I'm surprised at how little overlap there seems to be (I think they were mentioned just once in this book). However, since this one ends in 1848, it's still a bit early in the Warburg timeline. The second part might have more. 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.

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In this second volume, the author gives us in detail the history of the family until about 1918. For the period thereafter, he provides more summary than before (some of which is recounted as oral conversations instead of archived source material). For the years after World War II, an epilogue covers the effects of their losses (due to seizure and nationalization during the war years) and the transformation of the remaining branches of the business into the current modern forms (including the revival of a Frankfurt office.) As the first volume, this sequence has fourteen chapters grouped in three parts, plus an epilogue: Uncles and Nephews (chapters 1-5: the quest for emancipation; the fast social transformations of 1849-1858; impacts of nationalism; of the transition to the gold monetary standard; and the death of James, the last surviving son, and events leading to the 1870 war); through those of Cousins (chapters 6-13: the aftermath of war; the distancing of fourth generation Rothschilds from banking; Sionism; diversification from banking and the building of the multinational mining empire; involvement with politics, mainly in Britain; imperialism; the Games of Alliances; the financing of the arms race preceding 1914), to the times of Descendants (chapter 14, about the apparent decline of the family between 1915 and 1945). The Epilogue covers the period from the War to the 21st century and hails a revival of the Rothschild role in the world. 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.