The House of Morgan

An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance

De: Ron Chernow

Narrado por: Robertson Dean

Winner of the National Book Award and now considered a classic, The House of Morgan is the most ambitious history ever written about an American banking dynasty. Acclaimed by the Wall Street Journal as "brilliantly researched and written", the book tells the rich, panoramic story of four generations of Morgans and the powerful, secretive firms they spawned. It is the definitive account of the rise of the modern financial world. A gripping history of banking and the booms and busts that shaped the world on both sides of the Atlantic, The House of Morgan traces the trajectory of the J. P.Morgan empire from its obscure beginnings in Victorian London to the crash of 1987. Ron Chernow paints a fascinating portrait of the private saga of the Morgans and the rarefied world of the American and British elite in which they moved. Based on extensive interviews and access to the family and business archives, The House of Morgan is an investigative masterpiece, a compelling account of a remarkable institution and the men who ran it, and an essential book for understanding the money and power behind the major historical events of the last 150 years.

©2014 Ron Chernow (P)2014 Blackstone Audio

Superb narration

Robertson Dean takes what could have been a dry financial history and turns it into a fascinating tale. I did not catch a single mispronunciation, even on foreign words like "cognoscenti" and "pince-nez." He is one of the best in the business. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, particularly because it confirms the hair-raising truth about central banking described by G. Edward Griffin in "The Creature from Jekyll Island."

Excellent and Informative Book!!!!!

I am a studying to get a bachelors in Finance. This book has given so much information about Finance and International Business. This book and Ron Chernow's other book "Titan" clears up a lot of misinformation and also gave confirmation of pieces of information I have came across regarding finance. A must read!!!!!

Comprehensive education on the historic bank

Elucidating biography of the first Morgans and a whirlwind history of those who came after. This book does well to showcase the evolution of US and international banking as seen through the lens of one of the most influential banks ever seen.

Typical Chernow: A Home Rum

Every Chernow book I’ve read has been great, and this was simply one more example. Fascinating insights into family and banking history. The narrator simply took good material and provided an excellent performance. Five-plus!

Solid bio, important history

This was an interesting book leading from the founding of Morgan bank to roughly today. Very useful history in here, providing an understanding of how things function, the machinations of the world's financial order and the role certain people have in them. I enjoyed this book a great deal.

A staggering masterwork, beautifully narrated

If you're looking for a fascinating, impossibly dense but immensely satisfying read, and you want to bask a bit in the history of the banking sector on both sides of the pond, I'd highly recommend this book.

It's a history of the Morgan banking dynasty, beginning in England in the early 1800s, through Junius and J. Pierpont and Jack Morgan and all the way to the Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan of the 1980s, where the tale concludes.

It’s the kind of staggering masterwork that makes you appreciate the craft of historical research itself; it feels like three hours of hard labor went into every single sentence (and it's a very long book).

Robertson Dean’s booming baritone is perfect for the narration. Pro tip: he sounds full of brisk energy at 1.5x (and even moreso at 1.75x!).

If this sounds like fun and you have a few dozen hours to spare, enjoy!

Very informative

What did you love best about The House of Morgan?

I was surprise to find out how much the Morgans had influence over the country and the world finance.

What about Robertson Dean’s performance did you like?

Awesome performance he was clear in very engaging

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

This is a Book you must take your time to listen to, it has a lot of History in it so it may take you to other Books to fact check the history.

It’s very very long but I felt my self coming back to it.

Really good book about the history of the banks and brokerages in the USA and England. It’s amazing how much detail he could provide. It’s very very long but I felt my self coming back to it. It’s also surprising how early J.P. Morgan dies in the book. A lot of Morgan’s original wealth seems to come from getting on board of directors and getting large equity stakes during bankruptcy.

A must read for people to understand Wall Street

Thought it was going to be a long read but turned out to be engaging.

Lots of early anecdotes

A highly informative history of the house of Morgan and how it transitioned from family controlled partnership into multiple entities (Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, ...).

The books early chapters are particularly informative on the area up till the Second World War but the later ones gives only a glimpse of later developments including Nixons abolition of the gold standard, junk bonds and the yuppies of the 1980s.

Still it's a great read which traces the development of modern finance and for that it deserves a four star rating. Five stars if it had included a updated section on the formation of Morgan chase and possibly the 2008 financial crisis and a little more details covering the area after 1945.