Peter Cooper, businessman and philanthropist, one of the group of self-made millionaires who started the great business ball rolling in the 1820's, is an American not only of his times but of all time-- embodying the best in American tradition. The biographer tells his story appealingly- a first rate American success story. Cooper was born within three years of the birth of his country. His uncertain wandering boyhood years, his frugal ways, his business sagacity, his early trials as wage earner, his ultimate success when he started his glue factory and built up his business with manifold ramifications. He rode high on the business boom of the '20's, and by 1830 was known as philanthropist and educator, the seed sown for Cooper Union. The chapter on his relation to the issue of the Atlantic cable is worth the price of the book. He lived until 1883, dying 92 years young.