The French Rothschilds: The Great Banking Dynasty Through Two Turbulent Centuries

The Rothschilds, the bankers to kings, were among the world's paramount financial powers in the 19th century. Their wealth remains the stuff of legend. The French Rothschilds is an award-winning biographer's penetrating portrait of the most regal & influential branch of this international family, one that came to prominence under Napoleon in France & has ever since been locked in a turbulent relationship with its adopted state. Throughout much of the 19th century, the Rothschilds were the single most important source of funds in Europe for governments in war & peace, for the extraction of raw materials from the earth & for the factories that turned them into wealth. They were instrumental in bringing capitalism to maturity. There have been a number of books on the Rothschilds, but never one that focused so closely on the French branch of the family. Yet the French Rothschilds, with their eventful careers in both the 19th & 20th centuries & the anti-Semitism they faced; their contribution to the settlement of Palestine; the assaults they endured from the Petain regime & later the Mitterrand Socialists; & their famous racehorses & prestigious wines, are in many respects the most fascinating branch of this family.