The Jews in America Trilogy
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Authors: Stephen; Birmingham
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PRAISE FOR THE WRITING OF STEPHEN BIRMINGHAM
The Auerbach Will
New York Times
Bestseller
“Has the magic word âbestseller' written all over it ⦠Birmingham's narrative drive never falters and his characters are utterly convincing.” âJohn Barkham Reviews
“Delicious secretsâscandals, blackmail, affairs, adultery ⦠the gossipy Uptown/Downtown milieu Birmingham knows so well.” â
Kirkus Reviews
“An engrossing family saga.” â
USA Today
“Colorful, riveting, bubbling like champagne.” â
The Philadelphia Inquirer
“Poignant and engrossing ⦠Has all the ingredients for a bestseller.” â
Publishers Weekly
The Rest of Us
New York Times
Bestseller
“Breezy and entertaining, full of gossip and spice!” â
The Washington Post
“Rich anecdotal and dramatic material ⦠Prime social-vaudeville entertainment.” â
Kirkus Reviews
“Wonderful stories ⦠All are interesting and many are truly inspirational.” â
The Dallas Morning News
“Entertaining from first page to last ⦠Those who read it will be better for the experience.” â
Chattanooga Times Free Press
“Birmingham writes with a deft pen and insightful researcher's eye.” â
The Cincinnati Enquirer
“Mixing facts, gossip, and insight ⦠The narrative is engaging.” â
Library Journal
“Immensely readable ⦠Told with a narrative flair certain to win many readers.” â
Publishers Weekly
The Right People
New York Times
Bestseller
“Platinum mounted ⦠The mind boggles.” â
San Francisco Examiner
“To those who say society is dead, Stephen Birmingham offers evidence that it is alive and well.” â
Newsweek
“The games some people play ⦠manners among the moneyed WASPs of America ⦠The best book of its kind.” â
Look
“The beautiful people of
le beau monde
⦠Mrs. Adolf Spreckels with her twenty-five bathrooms ⦠Dorothy Spreckels Munn's chinchilla bedspread ⦠the âSt. Grottle sex Set' of the New England prep schools, sockless in blazers ⦠the clubs ⦠the social sports ⦠love and marriageâwhich seem to be the only aspect which might get grubbier. It's all entertaining.” â
Kirkus Reviews
“It glitters and sparkles.⦠You'll love
The Right People
.” â
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“A âfun' book about America's snobocracy ⦠Rich in curiosa ⦠More entertaining than
Our Crowd
⦠Stephen Birmingham has done a masterly job.” â
Saturday Review
“Take a look at some of his topics: the right prep schools, the coming out party, the social rankings of the various colleges, the Junior League, the ultra-exclusive clubs, the places to live, the places to play, why the rich marry the rich, how they raise their children.⦠This is an âinside' book.” â
The Washington Star
“All the creamy people ⦠The taboo delight of a hidden American aristocracy with all its camouflages stripped away.” âTom Wolfe,
Chicago Sun-Times
The Wrong Kind of Money
“Fast and wonderful. Something for everyone.” â
The Cincinnati Enquirer
“Dark doings in Manhattan castles, done with juicy excess. A titillating novel that reads like a dream. Stunning.” â
Kirkus Reviews
“Birmingham ⦠certainly keeps the pages turning. Fans will feel at home.” â
The Baltimore Sun
The Jews in America Trilogy
“Our Crowd,” The Grandees, and “The Rest of Us”
Stephen Birmingham
“Our Crowd”
The Great Jewish Families of New York
Stephen Birmingham
For the children:
Mark, Harriet, Carey
Contents
PART I
A PARTICULAR PRINCIPALITY
PART II
OUT OF THE WILDERNESS (1837â1865)
PART III
INTO THE MAINSTREAM (1866â1899)
12 Â
The “Our Dear Babette” Syndrome
17 Â “
The Haughty and Purse-Proud Rothschilds
”
18 Â
The Seligman-Hilton Affair
19 Â “
A Complex Oriental Nature
”
20 Â “
Your Loving Kuhn, Loeb & Company
”
26 Â “
The Battle of the Giants
”
29 Â
Further Adventures Underground
33 Â
Elberon, and Points North and South
34 Â
The Guggenheim-Lewisohn Battle
35 Â
Monsieur Journet's Nightgown
36 Â
The Great Battle of 1109 Fifth Avenue
37 Â “
Witty and Interesting Personalities
”
38 Â
The Equitable Life Affair
39 Â “
I Enclose My Check for $2,000,000 â¦
”
40 Â
The “Sinister Transmutation
”
42 Â
The Rise of a House of Issue
48 Â “
Familiengefühl” ⦠and No Bare Feet at Dinner
Preface
It was my intention, when I undertook to write this book,
not
to write a book that would be simply “about rich people.”
To be sure, none of the families here portrayed is needy. Far from it. Butâto me, at leastâtheir accomplishments and their contributions to the special spirit and
élan,
as well as to the physical appearance, of New York City make the fact of their wealth seem secondary. It was my feeling, when I considered this book, that such names as Lehman, Lewisohn, Schiff, Loeb, Warburg, Guggenheim, Seligman, Kahn, Straus, Goldman, and Sachs are nationally, and in most cases internationally, known. They stand for banking and industrial efficiency, government service, philanthropy, and vast patronage of the arts, science, and education. And yet, due to a persistent reticence and unwillingness to boastâwhich in themselves are noble attributesâthe men and women who made these names celebrated are little understood as human beings. It was my hunch that behind the marble façades lived people with as much capacity for folly, and grandeur, as human beings everywhere. It should come as no surprise that this turned out to be the case.