The women of Rothschild The untold story of the world's most famous dynasty

Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Historian Livingstone (The Mistresses of Cliveden) delivers a comprehensive and colorful group biography of the women of the Rothschild dynasty. The family tree begins with matriarch Gutle Schnapper (1753--1849), whose dowry enabled her husband, Mayer Amschel Rothschild, to start building the family's banking empire. The mother of five boys and five girls, Gutle's female descendants spread across Europe, hobnobbing with prime ministers and celebrities, lobbying popes and rabbis for social reform, and even breaking Nazi codes at Bletchley Park. The most recent generations profiled include entomologist Miriam Rothschild (1908--2005), known the "Queen of Fleas"; her sister Nica (1913--1988), a patron of jazz musicians including Thelonious Monk; and her daughter Rosie (1945--2010), a psychotherapist and feminist art historian. Livingstone expertly mines diaries, memoirs, and letters for vivid anecdotes, including Miriam's description of her and her siblings' romantic suitors as "erotic appendages," and illuminates how her subjects pushed back against anti-Semitism and their family's "male culture" (Mayer Amschel Rothschild's will "explicitly forbade his female descendants or the wives of any male descendants from having any share in the bank's wealth, or in its decision-making processes") to take their place in the world. This sparkling history is full of riches. (Oct.)

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Review by Library Journal Review

The name Rothschild resonates throughout history as a powerful banking dynasty run by men. While correct, this is only part of the story of this talented and resourceful family. Livingstone's (The Mistresses of Cliveden) new chronicle of some Rothschild women is a welcome addition to the family annals. Gutle Schnapper married Mayer Amschel Rothschild in 1770 in Frankfurt. They had 10 children who lived to adulthood, one of whom--Nathan--settled in London in 1798 and established the English branch of the family. Denied a role in banking decisions by Mayer Amschel's will, Rothschild women often worked in the shadows to ensure the dynasty's success. But Nathan was ably assisted by his wife, Hannah, who instructed her sons in important business dealings after her husband's death. Other Rothschild women followed where Hannah led. These women instinctively understood noblesse oblige, with subsequent generations using their influence in liberal politics, art, music, literature, conservation, education, and social services. Some played a crucial role in the formation of Israel. VERDICT Livingstone's vital and compelling book fills a gap in Jewish and women's history and will appeal to readers of both. The book includes extensive notes, an index, and a very helpful family tree.--Penelope J.M. Klein

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

A multigenerational portrait of a powerful family. From its origins in a Jewish ghetto in Frankfurt, the family of Meyer Anshel Rothschild (1744-1812) and his wife, Guttle Schnapper (1753-1849), spawned an extraordinary financial dynasty that spread throughout the world. Since Meyer's will specifically excluded his "daughters and sons-in-law and their heirs" from any share in his businesses, histories of the influential family have focused almost exclusively on men--an omission that historian Livingstone rectifies in a richly textured narrative. Drawing on archives, memoirs, and published sources, the author focuses on the British branch of the family, examining eight generations of Rothschild women whose influence reached into politics, literature, social reform, Zionism, science, and the arts. Although they did not participate directly in the family's financial strategies, a few served as confidantes and advisers to their husbands; others exercised deft political machinations in gatherings at their sumptuous country houses and London salons. The family's immense wealth made them welcome in British aristocracy--or, at least, tolerated by some of its more virulently antisemitic members. The wives knew that "as German Jews in a Christian society and women within a fiercely patriarchal family," they needed to act judiciously. Despite servants and luxury, for most of them, being a Rothschild wife "was stressful and thankless work." One husband referred to his wife as "an essential piece of furniture." Livingstone recounts sustaining friendships among some of the women, rivalries that erupted among others, and illnesses, deaths, betrayals, and sorrow that befell many. They were scrutinized within the family (when they married outside of the faith, for example) and subjected to gossip. If being a Rothschild gave them privileges, the author clearly reveals their vulnerability to tumultuous events--from the French Revolution through 20th-century wars--and the shattering social and cultural changes that affected each Rothschild wife, daughter, niece, and granddaughter. An engaging, authoritative, and refreshingly intimate history. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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