The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance

Chernow’s breadth of knowlege is breathtaking

“The House of Morgan” by Ron Chernow gives full reign to the
author’s access to never-before seen material and lively prose as he
majestically takes the reader on a tale that spans two centuries and
intersects global events. Despite being a historian without an
insider’s knowledge of Wall Street Chernow has sculpted a book that
covers not only financial happenings but their political and social
contexts. Chernow doesn’t flinch as he discusses the larger-than-life
John Pierpont Morgan Snr’s controversial role in shaping early
corporate America (not to mention his penchant for attacking hostile
media with his cane), the House of Morgan’s role in World War I and II
and the movement of Morgan Stanley and its associates into the hostile
takeover arena as the clubby world of investment banking gave way to
the democritization of capital. The only question left is whether Mr.
Chernow may continue the book from 1990 to the present as great changes
in the Morgan House have been wrought such as Morgan Stanley’s
disastrous merger with Dean Witter and subsequent management upheavel
as well as JP Morgan re-entering the investment banking game and the
buying of Bear Stearns. In short - a classic and a must read especially
for those looking to enter into the world of high finance and “do
business in a first class way.”

Great Book if Specifically Interested in JPM

This book took me a long time to read. I started the book and found
the first half of the book regarding Pierpont Morgan’s life, his family
and the bank he built quite interesting. The book drags on with details
at points throughout the last half of the book and focuses much of its
time on Morgan Stanley, but the author’s strong research and writing
ability stays constant. The last several chapters were more interesting
to me and dealt with the changing face of investment and commercial
banking through the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s in contrast to
the gentlemen’s code of banking that dominated the banking dynasties
for more than a century. It’s almost a shame that this book was
completed in 1989 and missed the growth of JPMorgan Chase as it
consumed giants such as Chemical Bank (and Manufacturers Hanover) and
eventually became JPMorgan Chase Bank. In the end, this is an amazing
piece of work, for any one person to achieve.

Got some time to kill….

This book is an excellent expose on how the Morgan bank has shaped
the United States into what it is today. If you are curious as to how
capitalism empowers individuals and allows them to build the economy,
read this book.

Forex Banking And Trading - The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance

Stumble it!  Email This Post