A superficial, unfocused portrait of the Gallic Jewish banking dynasty. Drawing primarily on secondary sources and interviews with contemporary Rothschilds, Lottman (The Fall of Paris, 1992, etc.) traces the family fortunes from their origins in 18th-century Frankfurt, where they became ``bankers of kings...masters of Europe's most efficient transport network for the delivery of money and documents,'' to 20th-century France, where their bank was taken away from them twice, first in the '40s by the Nazis and then in the '80s by Franáois Mitterand's Socialists. The French Rothschilds' glory days were in the 19th century, when they financed the development of railroads, oil fields, and other nascent industries while remaining so closely tied to the French government that unofficial messages from the Rothschilds to family members or officials abroad often served as key means of diplomatic communication. Lottman notes that the family's financial preeminence slowly declined as conservative succeeding generations refused to get involved in the stock market and settled for managing their existing wealth, but he doesn't really examine the implications of this trend for the Rothschilds or the nation. The book suffers badly by comparison with Ron Chernow's recent histories, The House of Morgan and The Warburgs, which cogently traced modern banking's development through the story of a single family or institution; Lottman has neither Chernow's narrative strength nor his ability to capture individuals. Despite references to various family members' love for horse racing, wine bottling, and art collecting, the reader doesn't get a strong sense of any particular Rothschild's personality, with the possible exception of Guy (on whose memoirs the author relies heavily), who got the flagging dynasty back into the financial swing of things in the 1950s and '60s. Even those only mildly well informed about banking will find this a rehash of existing material, although Lottman's readable account is adequately informative for novices. (8 pages b&w photos, not seen)
Pub Date: April 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-517-59229-0
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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