The House of Rothschild

Outline

The House of Rothschild (1998) is a detailed history of the Rothschild family, which rose from the Jewish quarter of Frankfurt to become the most powerful banking dynasty of the nineteenth century. Niall Ferguson explains how Mayer Amschel Rothschild and his five sons built banking houses across Europe and financed governments, wars, and railways. Based on the family’s private archives, the book separates historical fact from the myths that grew around the family.

• The Rothschilds rose from the Jewish quarter of Frankfurt to become the most powerful banking dynasty of the nineteenth century.
• Mayer Amschel Rothschild and his five sons built banking houses across Europe rather than relying on a single base.
• The family's banks financed governments, wars, and railways, giving them influence well beyond ordinary finance.
• Ferguson draws on the family's private archives, so his account rests on documents rather than rumour.
• The book separates historical fact from the myths that grew up around the Rothschild name.

Niall Ferguson is a Scottish historian known for his work on financial and economic history. He has taught at Oxford and Harvard and is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. His other books include The Ascent of Money and Empire.