Review by Choice Review
Steinmetz (independent scholar) investigates the life and financial machinations of Jay Gould, one of the Gilded Age's most notorious robber barons. In a series of 37 short, highly readable chapters, the author demonstrates the economic acumen and, at times, fiscal wizardry that Gould conjured to manipulate late-19th-century Wall Street. American Rascal traces Gould's foray into the hardscrabble business world of tanneries in Pennsylvania, where he realized it was better to know the reasons behind market trends rather than be a part of its labor force, to his infatuation with the railway industry and his tumultuous dealings with prominent financiers, investors, and politicians, including Cornelius Vanderbilt, Charles Francis Adams, Ulysses S. Grant, and James Garfield. Gould's passion for market manipulation is readily apparent in this text as is his morally repugnant, albeit not illegal, activities for self-enrichment during the heyday of speculative endeavors in US history. Although the author deftly recounts Gould's pecuniary maneuverings, he oddly concludes "you can't hate [him] properly" (p. 266). The text overly relies on secondary sources--a point the author admits to because of access issues related to the pandemic. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers. --Jeffrey M. O'Leary, Mitchell College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
In this vivid, witty, and well-researched portrait, financier and biographer Steinmetz (The Richest Man Who Ever Lived, 2015) details how speculator and railroad baron Jay Gould used "brains, guile and brute force" to become rich and shape America. Gould was born into a poor farm family in rural Roxbury, New York; then, with surveying and tannery profits, he went to Wall Street. His debut as financial mastermind occurred in the late 1860s, when he beat Cornelius Vanderbilt in a battle between the New York Central and Erie railroads. In the next two decades, Gould held the gold market hostage, acquired many railroads, and grabbed Western Union, the Google of its age. General readers may not fully understand the descriptions of all of Gould's financial maneuvers, but Steinmetz's summaries and overall enthusiasm mitigate this concern. Like Robert Caro's notable biographies of Robert Moses and Lyndon Johnson, Steinmetz chronicles his subject's strengths and weaknesses within a rich historical context. He ably contrasts how Gould modernized financial markets and America's economy and Gould's willingness to try almost any ploy to get ahead. Readers will enjoy Steinmetz's wonderful background sketches of the Gilded Age and appealing accounts of railroad history.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Securities analyst Steinmetz (The Richest Man Who Ever Lived) offers a well-rounded biography of railroad tycoon and Wall Street investor Jay Gould (1836--1892). Best known for his greed and underhanded business tactics, Gould also had a positive impact on thousands of lives, according to Steinmetz. Born in upstate New York, Gould left the family farm at age 13 to work as a surveyor, and rapidly gained a reputation as a go-getter. His first big break came when he partnered with congressman Zadock Pratt to open a tannery in Pennsylvania. He also harvested ice and shipped it via railway to New York City and began buying railroad stocks during the Panic of 1857. Eventually, Gould gained control of the Union Pacific and other Western railways at the height of the railroad boom. Steinmetz makes clear that Gould's lack of ethics fueled his rise; at one point, he spread rumors of Cornelius Vanderbilt's death in order to shake confidence in the financier's investment portfolio. Though Gould's well-documented crimes led to major regulatory reforms, Steinmetz argues that he "did as much as anyone... to build the country" and spur America's economic growth. This colorful and diligently researched account rescues a Gilded Age robber baron from infamy. (Aug.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The infamous robber baron receives a new assessment. Steinmetz, a money manager and former business reporter for the Wall Street Journal, emphasizes that most Americans admire wealthy business owners provided they build something (Ford, Jobs, etc.) but have less respect for those who make money dealing with money. Jay Gould (1836-1892) remains the epitome of the evil financier, a "champion cheater" who "showed that no act of financial villainy was too bold." Keeping business free of government oversight has always been popular, but many of Gould's contemporaries complained that too many business owners engaged in disreputable and even illegal behavior. Many believed that Gould carried this to a new level, inspiring the first popular demands for reform. The son of a farmer, Gould was intelligent and hardworking. He taught himself surveying and accounting and had established a successful business when barely out of his teens. Contact with other entrepreneurs taught him the ways of the business world, and at age 24, he moved to New York City to start building his fortune. Though Gould's fellow industrialists certainly loved making money and had no objection to bribery and other chicanery, they built entire industries: Rockefeller in oil, Carnegie in steel, Vanderbilt in railroads. Gould, on the other hand, had little interest in operating a business; he just wanted to make money. Steinmetz offers entertaining descriptions of Gould's gutting of the Erie Railroad, the financial panic produced by his effort to control the gold market, and his failed attempt to combine American railroads into a single continental system. Much duplicity involved short selling, bear raids, options, and other technical Wall Street activities, most of which Steinmetz explains in accessible language--though he seems to admire his subject more than he deserves. Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Vanderbilt spent some of their wealth on exemplary American institutions, but there is no Gould University or foundation. A sturdy biography of an American businessman who cared about one thing: money. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
