THE MAGNATE: William Boyce Thompson

The portrait of a typical American self-made millionaire -- a go-getter, unscrupulous at times, a gambler and yet a builder, cold and hard, but with a softer side, a bunch of contradictions in temperament and in deed. A modern ""robber baron"" -- with a sense of international amity beyond his time. A type -- American success, American failure -- success in reaching the material goal, failure in preserving the zest for life which made it worth while. His Russian experiences, with the ideals he glimpsed, might have changed the course of the Russian Revolution had America followed his lead....It's a long book, and it's a book about a man whose fame is limited to mining and financial circles primarily. But there might be a chance for a purely man's market, in sales and rentals, among those who read the John Hays Hommond for its American implications and its success story. Pick your prospects -- as it is not a book for everyone. Hagedorn's name, as biographer of Roosevelt, carries weight. A John Day book.