内容摘要 一个世纪前,约翰·皮尔庞特·摩根像巨人一样支配着整个金融世界。作为创建通用电气公司、美国钢铁公司以及地域广泛的铁路帝国的幕后策划人物,在几十年里,他都是美国民间的核心银行家:1913年他去世几个月后,联邦储备局取代了他所创建的私人金融系统。他是托马斯·爱迪生和安德鲁·卡内基的早期支持者,是西奥多·罗斯福的密友(兼对手),也是英国国王爱德华七世和德国皇帝凯泽·威廉的心腹朋友,同时也是数位杰出女性的好友。摩根在许多方面塑造着他那个世界,也塑造着我们这个世界。然而在他去世以后,他还一直笼罩着神秘的面纱,有人称赞他是工业化进程中的英雄,也有人诋毁他是贪婪的强盗大亨。 这是一部很久以来就应属于摩根的传记著作:它权威、详实地描述了摩根其人,如果没有他那充满支配力量的意志,美国的金融和文化将和今天的情况截然不同。这部著作文笔优美,并根据新获得的档案资料历经十年才撰写完成,本书作者琼·施特劳斯是一位获奖传记作家,她生动地再现了摩根的生活以及摩根的时代,透过令人敬畏的外表,揭示出了摩根完整的人的本性。 摩根的这本传记让人们重新审视美国经济崛起中银行家所扮演的角色。当时摩根从欧洲筹集资本,对破产的铁路进行重组,在经济危机中稳定市场,并创建了多家大公司和金融机构,今天我们都认为是理所应当,不足为怪了。本书中那些惊奇的故事、生动的细节描述,让我们又回到了过去:摩根在哈特福德和波士顿的童年生活,在瑞士和德国求学的经历,在纽约开始的职业生涯,还有摩根与他人的关系,其中有他那位令人尊敬而又严格的父亲,他深爱的*一任妻子和难以相处的第二任妻子,他的孩子、合伙人、商业伙伴、异性伴侣以及很多朋友。摩根同时又是艺术品收藏家,他为美国储备了珍贵的历史财富,有绘画,也有文学作品。同时代的一位专家称他是"我们当今最伟大的收藏家",他把大量的精力和超过一半的财力都花在了艺术品收藏上。 施特劳斯这部非凡的传记著作不仅生动而新颖地再现了摩根的立体生活景象,同时也再现了美国镀金时代的文化和政治斗争以及社会冲突。 NATIONAL BESTSELLER The definitive full-scale portrait of J. Pierpont Morgan's tumultuous life, both in and out of the public eye History has remembered him as a complex and contradictory figure, part robber baron and part patron saint. J. Pierpont Morgan earned his reputation as "the Napoleon of Wall Street" by reorganizing the nation's railroads and creating industrial giants such as General Electric and U.S. Steel. At a time when the country had no Federal Reserve system, he appointed himself a one-man central bank. He had two wives, three yachts, four children, six houses, mistresses, and one of the finest art collections in America. In this extraordinary book, drawing extensively on new material, award-winning biographer Jean Strouse vividly portrays the financial colossus, the avid patron of the arts, and the entirely human character behind all the myths. Praise for Morgan "Magnificent . . . the fullest and most revealing look at this remarkable, complex man that we are likely to get."--The Wall Street Journal "A masterpiece . . . No one else has told the tale of Pierpont Morgan in the detail, depth, and understanding of Jean Strouse."--Robert Heilbroner, Los Angeles Times Book Review "It is hard to imagine a biographer coming any closer to perfection."--St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Strouse is in full command of Pierpont Morgan's personal life, his financial operations, his collecting, and his benefactions, and presents a rich, vivid picture of the background against which they took place. . . . A magnificent biography."--The New York Review of Books "With uncommon intelligence, maturity, and psychological insight, Morgan: American Financier is that rare masterpiece biography that enables us to penetrate the soul of a complex human being."--The Philadelphia Inquirer
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