| International Standard Book Number |
9798217058884 electronic book
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| International Standard Book Number |
9781594204173 hardcover
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| International Standard Book Number |
1594204179 hardcover
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| Personal Name |
Ahamed, Liaquat, author.
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| Title Statement |
1873 : the Rothschilds, the first great depression, and the making of the modern world / Liaquat Ahamed.
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| Production, Publication, Distribution, Manufacture, and Copyright Notice |
New York, NY : Penguin Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2026.
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| Physical Description |
xxii, 346 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.
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| Bibliography, Etc. Note |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 309-322) and index.
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| Formatted Contents Note |
Introduction -- Part one: The boom: 1867-1871. In bonds we trust -- The gods of our time -- An American Rothschild? -- God's chosen instrument -- The greatest financial event in history -- Part two: Euphoria: 1871-1873. Drunken cities -- Ingenious mendacity -- Blind capital -- Part three: The bust: 1873-1876. The desolate home of the ruined gamester -- A financial thunderbolt -- The crimes of 1873 -- Chaff before an autumnal gale -- Palace intrigues -- Part four: The aftermath: 1876-1886. "The Jews themselves are to blame" -- Stealing the election -- The bondholders' war -- Le krach de l'Union Generale -- We don't need to make money -- Epilogue: Brussels, 1892.
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| Summary, Etc. |
"From the author of the Pulitzer-Prize-winning Lords of Finance, another magnificent and timely reckoning with the first truly global financial calamity through the prism of the famous banking family at the center of the whirlwind Over the course of the 1850s and 1860s, during the first era of globalization, the world experienced an unprecedented economic boom. Fueling this expansion was an explosion in borrowing through the global bond market, which provided financing for the century's most costly and transformative innovation: the railroad. At the hub of the bond market stood one family-the Rothschilds. With offices in London, Paris, Vienna, and Frankfurt, and through their agent August Belmont in New York, the Rothschilds were arguably the wealthiest and most powerful family in world history, possessing an unmatched ability to mobilize capital on a massive scale and wielding unparalleled political influence. The boom predictably swelled into a series of bubbles that burst simultaneously in the early 1870s, cascading from one country to the next across Europe and the world. Governments of the major economic powers responded by blundering amid the tumult into a precipitous remaking of the global currency system-a move that not only exacerbated the ensuing economic collapse but set the stage for a prolonged twenty-year period of punitive deflation. This deflation sparked waves of populism and anti-globalization sentiment. As Liaquat Ahamed shows us in this enthralling history, the crisis of 1873 was, among other things, a death blow to Reconstruction in the United States and the proximate cause of the Ottoman Empire's slow death spiral and Britain's takeover of Egypt. Ironically, as markets grew irrationally frenzied, the Rothschilds had presciently managed to protect themselves from the worst financial effects. Nevertheless, when the deluge came, they were viciously scapegoated everywhere as part of a wider spasm of hatred directed at "Jewish finance," a strain of antisemitism that would come to full evil flower in Austria and Germany during the 20th century. 1873 is a marvelous birds-eye reckoning with the full dimension of the crisis, from its build-up to its long aftermath. Through the Rothschilds and a cast of other eyewitnesses, including Karl Marx and Mark Twain making cameos at crucial moments, we have witnesses on the ground to give us the human perspective. And we have a great and brilliant financial historian's firm grasp of the larger forces at play to create a truly cohesive global narrative with thrilling explanatory power"-- Provided by publisher.
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| Subject-Personal Name |
Rothschild family.
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Financial crises History 19th century.
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Depressions 1873.
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Capitalists and financiers.
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Globalization History 19th century.
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Financial crises History 20th century. Great Britain
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Jewish capitalists and financiers England London.
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| Index Term-Genre/Form |
Informational works.
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