At the turn of the 20th century, J. Pierpont Morgan was one of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the United States. He reorganized and controlled major banks and railroads and merged companies to establish giant corporations like U.S. Steel and General Electric. Many people trusted Morgan, whose efforts often rescued a weakening U.S. economy. Morgan helped expand and strengthen the nation's growing financial system and established some of the world's largest banks and ...
At the turn of the 20th century, J. Pierpont Morgan was one of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the United States. He reorganized and controlled major banks and railroads and merged companies to establish giant corporations like U.S. Steel and General Electric. Many people trusted Morgan, whose efforts often rescued a weakening U.S. economy. Morgan helped expand and strengthen the nation's growing financial system and established some of the world's largest banks and industries.
One of the "Signature Lives" chosen to represent "Modern Americans" in this series is that of financier J.P. Morgan. At times richer than the United States government and on several occasions savior of the nation's financial stability, Morgan led a strange personal life of melancholy and restless travel. His first wife died a few months after their marriage; his second wife eventually retreated into depression and isolation. Morgan started from a position of family wealth and power and then embarked on a path of banking, deal-making, and investment that led him to become a billionaire, controller of railroads, and founder of huge corporations like U.S. Steel and General Electric. Though collaborating with industrialists like Andrew Carnegie and "robber baron" Jay Gould, he nonetheless worked for economic stability with presidents Grover Cleveland and Theodore Roosevelt. His last great coup was to help mitigate the panic of 1907. In the Gilded Age, era of great wealth and abject poverty of the 1890s, the well-educated Morgan did not hesitate to spend money on houses, art, antiques, and rare books, though, to be fair, he was a founding member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and New York's Natural History Museum. His home in Manhattan, now the Morgan Library, is open to the public for research and exhibits. Both praised and reviled in his lifetime, this biography of Morgan offers a fascinating subject for young adults interested in the economic history of our country. Included in this readable and well-illustrated study are a time line, a chronology, and bibliographies.
VOYA
- Jan Chapman
This series provides biographies that complement curriculum studies for students in grades five through seven. It is a handsomely designed set that includes such features as well-reproduced photos and illustrations that enrich the accompanying text. The information contained within the books, however, is basic and not meant to provide a comprehensive resource on the subjects covered. Amelia Earhart gives the reader a concise and readable account of the life of the most famous female aviator in American history. Earhart is a legendary figure of inspiration to young women because of her independence from societal conventions. There are some wonderful childhood anecdotes in the book, including the story of how Earhart constructed a rickety, homemade roller coaster that was perhaps her first venture into flight. One of the most fascinating aspects of Earhart's life, the mystery of her disappearance during an around-the-world flight, is covered thoroughly, but there is very little information provided on the evidence that has been uncovered so far about her possible fate. The series does a better job than most in providing accurate and readable biographical content, but these books are limited in scope. Each book, however, provides a useful list of further reading that would allow the student to flesh out the information found in the books. Each book also points the reader to a Web site called "FactHound," a portal that purports to find the best Web sites on each topic. A visit to "FactHound" for information on Earhart and other Signature Lives subjects, however, provided only two sites-hardly an extensive or helpful resource. Despite these limitations, the series would be useful inschool and public libraries, with the caveat that the books should be used in conjunction with more comprehensive biographical resources. Additional titles profile Amy Tan, Andrew Carnegie, and Cesar Chavez among other modern American notables.
The Deal of a Lifetime 9
Child of Wealth 15
First Business Deals 23
Changes and Challenges 33
The Good Times and the Bad 43
Spending and Giving 53
In Command 59
Time of Crisis 67
Big Business 77
The Big Chief 87
Life and Times 96
Life at a Glance 102
Additional Resources 103
Glossary 105
Source Notes 106
Select Bibliography 108
Index 109
Image Credits 112
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