While providing abundant evidence of Rockefellers misdeeds, Chernow discards the stereotype of the cold-blooded monster to sketch an unforgettably human portrait of a quirky, eccentric original. The titan spent more than thirty years dodging investigations until Teddy Roosevelt and his trustbusters embarked on a marathon crusade to bring Standard Oil to bay. Critics charged that his empire was built on unscrupulous tactics: grand-scale collusion with the railroads, predatory pricing, industrial espionage, and wholesale bribery of political officials. Rockefeller was likely the most controversial businessman in our nations history. Full of startling revelations, the book indelibly alters our image of this most enigmatic capitalist.

Titan is the first full-length biography based on unrestricted access to Rockefellers rich trove of papers. Now National Book Awardwinning biographer Ron Chernow gives us a detailed and insightful history of the mogul. Rockefeller, Sr., historys first billionaire and the patriarch of Americas most famous dynasty, is an icon whose true nature has eluded three generations of historians. Titan is a magnificent biography-balanced, revelatory, elegantly written.John D. But he also uncovers the profound religiosity that drove him “to give all I could” his devotion to his father and the wry sense of humor that made him the country’s most colorful codger. He was the terror of his competitors, the bogeyman of reformers, the delight of caricaturists-and an utter enigma.ĭrawing on unprecedented access to Rockefeller’s private papers, Chernow reconstructs his subjects’ troubled origins (his father was a swindler and a bigamist) and his single-minded pursuit of wealth.

In the course of his nearly 98 years, Rockefeller was known as both a rapacious robber baron, whose Standard Oil Company rode roughshod over an industry, and a philanthropist who donated money lavishly to universities and medical centers. Rockefeller, Sr.-the Jekyll-and-Hyde of American capitalism. Synopsis: National Book Critics Circle Award Finalistįrom the acclaimed, award-winning author of Alexander Hamilton: here is the essential, endlessly engrossing biography of John D.

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