Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.18 (617 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1400077303 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 832 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2015-06-22 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist From the acclaimed, award-winning author of Alexander Hamilton: here is the essential, endlessly engrossing biography of John D. Drawing on unprecedented access to Rockefeller’s private papers, Chernow reconstructs his subjects’ troubled origins (his father was a swindler and a bigamist) and his single-minded pursuit of wealth. But he also uncovers the profound religiosity that drove him “to give all I could”; his devotion to his father; and the wry sense of humor that made him the country’s most colorful cod
to life through sustained narrative portraiture of the large-scale, nineteenth-century kind.” —The New York Times Book Review “Important and impressive. He turns the machinations of Standard Oil into fascinating social history.” —Time. Reveals the man behind both the mask and the myth.” —The Wall Street Journal “One of the great American biographies. Chernow writes with rich impartiality. “A biography that has many of the best attributes of a novel. Rockefeller Sr. Unflaggingly interesting, it brings John D. Wonderfully fluent and compelling.” —The New York Times “A triumph of the art of biography
Titan This is the third book by Ron Chernow that I have read. Last year I read his biography of George Washington followed by his excellent work on Alexander Hamilton. His latest books led me to one of his earliest biographies. What they all have in common is a personal picture of Americans who have had a fundamental impact on this nation for good or ill. I wasn't sure how I would feel about a book that dealt with the life of John D. Rockefeller. I have to admit, as I began this book, that I had preconceived attitudes about men like Rockefeller especially in the context. Appropriately Named Samuel A. Danziger 'Titan' by Ron Chernow tells the story of John Rockefeller, the founder of Exon-Mobil (née Standard Oil). Titan is an appropriate title: Rockefeller left footprints in America as large and significant as the retreating glaciers left in upstate New York. The book itself is well enough written with only a few flaws, the biggest of which is that in places it assumes that the reader already knows the story. Usually I did not, even though Rockefeller was big enough and important enough that I *ought* to have. I think this book is essential reading for anyone who. Enjoyable and interesting, but not perfect Home office This is an excellent treatment of the subject. Chernow spends maybe a little more time psychoanalyzing JD and his family than providing historical narrative, but overall the story is well done, clearly well researched, and well written. To me, the weakest part of the book was Chernow's attempt to discuss the antitrust concepts in play. He seemed a bit confused at times as to what conduct was competition at work and what, under modern standards would be considered anticompetitive. At times he notes the irony that some of SO's biggest critics engaged in the same tac
Eccles Prize; The Death of the Banker; Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award; Washington: A Life, which received the Pulitzer Prize for Biography; and Alexander Hamilton, nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award and adapted into the award-winning Broadway musical Hamilton. Ron Chernow’s bestselling books