03/30/2020
Journalist Berfield debuts with a vivid account of the early 20th-century battle of wills between President Theodore Roosevelt and financier J.P. Morgan that led to the breakup of the Northern Securities railroad company. After highlighting the parallels between Morgan and Roosevelt’s early lives (both were born into the upper class, both had childhoods marked by illness), and documenting their divergent political and economic beliefs (Roosevelt became a progressive trust-buster; Morgan believed capitalism should be “orderly and concentrated, directed from above by powerful men”), Berfield expands the story to include labor leader John Mitchell, a driving force behind the 1902 United Mine Workers strike, which threatened both the railroad industry and America’s heating supply and led to the federal government’s first intervention in a labor dispute. Weaving together the perspectives of labor, capital, and government, Berfield documents the origins of reforms including the eight-hour workday and worker’s compensation; she finds drama in complex and potentially dry business transactions, and makes insightful comparisons to today’s progressive movement. This entertaining account will resonate with American history buffs and those who agree with Berfield that “the battle to make American capitalism more fair rages just as furiously” today as it did at the turn of the last century. (May)
★ 05/01/2020
Berfield (Bloomberg Businessweek) is no stranger to covering corporations as an investigative journalist. Her first book begins with the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901, describing in recurring fashion the recently sworn-in president, Theodore Roosevelt, and the capitalist of his time, J.P. Morgan. Originally thought of as a potential ally to Wall Street, having grown up wealthy himself, Roosevelt almost immediately struck out on his own; using the bully pulpit to try to reign in big business by suing Northern Securities, a massive railroad trust. Berfield expertly sets up this epic legal battle, ultimately decided in Roosevelt and the U.S. government's favor by the Supreme Court, intimately describing both Roosevelt and Morgan. While diving into the inner thoughts of his subjects, Berfield simultaneously encompasses the political and social revolt of the moment, examining the anthracite coal strike. Photographs are incorporated thought, along with a selected biography and end notes. VERDICT It's no easy task to write a dual biography while also incorporating the feelings and emotions of the historical moment, yet Berfield accomplishes all of this. An extremely readable work that will engage American history and business readers everywhere.—Keith Klang, Port Washington P.L., NY
2020-03-15
A focused history of the turn-of-the-century series of events during which President Theodore Roosevelt and railroad magnate J.P. Morgan clashed over power and boundaries, paving the way for a progressive moment in America.
In her well-paced debut, Bloomberg Businessweek investigative reporter Berfield ambitiously juggles several historic threads from a turbulent time in America: soaring immigration, labor unrest in the face of low wages and dangerous conditions, the seemingly untrammeled ambitions of big business, and the clamor for public accountability and oversight. Following the assassination of William McKinley, Roosevelt assumed the presidency as a young, untested hero of the Spanish-American War. At the time, he was greatly feared by the Wall Street monopoly for his progressivism. Morgan had created the behemoth U.S. Steel, and he maintained firm control over the “coal roads” in Pennsylvania, the railroads, and Wall Street finance. In 1901, along with a few other titans, he formed the Northern Securities railroad trust; a year later, Roosevelt asked his attorney general to prosecute the corporation for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act, which had been passed into law in 1890. At this crucial historic intersection, writes the author in a particularly engaging section, “tens of thousands of miners were also demanding that the nation honor its commitment to justice even as the coal barons denied it. Their fight would become one of the greatest labor actions in American history, and would redefine Roosevelt’s presidency in the months ahead.” In October 1902, Morgan “committed a surprising act of diplomacy,” bringing the coal barons together with labor leader John Mitchell, and the strike was settled. On March 14, 1904, the Supreme Court handed Morgan a stunning defeat, forcing Northern Securities to dissolve within 30 days. The decision, notes Berfield, cemented Roosevelt’s popularity; he “had tipped the scales back toward ordinary Americans, and many were devoted to him.”
An engaging historical work involving truly larger-than-life American characters. (b/w images)
Wonderfully detailed . . . [Berfield’s] story is about the past but also very much about the present, as our own Gilded Age raises old questions about inequality, plutocracy . . . a poignant, painful reminder of what a real leader does.” - The Washington Post
“Berfield’s wide-angle lens encompasses antitrust law, the details of railroad reorganization, investment banking, politics, coal mining and high living. . . . she can do a lot with only a few words.” - The Wall Street Journal
“An extremely skillful blend of wide-canvas exposition and small-scale personal drama . . . impossible to read this clash between big government and big business without thinking about our own century, when American wealth inequality is greater than it was even in Morgan’s day.” - Christian Science Monitor
“Incredibly well written and researched.” - Forbes
“A lively epic . . . novelistic in tone and historical in substance.” - The National Review
“Most authors might be content to write about either John Pierpont Morgan, possibly the world’s most famous banker, or Theodore Roosevelt, one of America’s best-loved presidents. But The Hour of Fate by Susan Berfield is richer for tackling them together. . . . Her book vividly brings both men to life.” - The Economist
“A tale of greed, power, and accountability, an epic story of a clash of titans, one a political dynamo, the other unparalleled in business savvy ... Today, as the United States barrels its way into the 21st century, with business behemoths like Amazon and Apple treading in the footsteps of Morgan’s Northern Securities, one can only wonder when and where the next trust buster will arise.” - The New York Journal of Books
“An extremely readable work that will engage American history and business readers everywhere.” - Library Journal (starred review)
“Ambitiously juggles several historic threads from a turbulent time in America ... An engaging historical work involving truly larger-than-life American characters.” - Kirkus Reviews
“Susan Berfield has written the rare book that makes you look at both the past and present in a new light. Deeply researched and beautifully written.” - David K. Randall, New York Times bestselling author of BLACK DEATH AT THE GOLDEN GATE
“Narrative nonfiction at its best.” - Adam Winkler, author of WE THE CORPORATIONS
“Impossible to read Berfield’s fast-paced and entertaining account of events a century ago without gaining deeper insight into the momentous events we wrestle with today.” - SCOTT MILLER, author of THE PRESIDENT AND THE ASSASSIN and AGENT 110
“Gripping ... well-researched and expertly told, this story of haves and have-nots—and a country at the precipice—speaks to our own precarious times, and will fascinate readers of financial and labor history.” - Philip Dray, author of THERE IS POWER IN A UNION and AT THE HANDS OF PERSONS UNKNOWN
“Berfield well portrays the major characters of this struggle without excessive detail, and her insights into both Roosevelt and Morgan make them seem quite contemporary.” - Booklist
“A vivid account of the early 20th-century battle of wills between President Theodore Roosevelt and financier J.P. Morgan ... Weaving together the perspectives of labor, capital, and government, Berfield ... finds drama in complex and potentially dry business transactions, and makes insightful comparisons to today’s progressive movement.” - Publishers Weekly
“Excellent topic. Excellent scope. Excellent writing.” - Book Reporter
“A masterful work of nonfiction. Events occurring more than a century ago come alive in an almost prescient sense of current affairs ... This is A+ work.” - Manhattan Book Review
“A well-written narrative that reads like a novel.” - CHOICE
“A majestic study in personality, politics and policies that still echo today.” - Valdosta Daily Times
