The New York Times–bestselling history of the Jewish immigrants from Russia and Poland who altered the American landscape from New York to Hollywood.
The wave of Eastern European Jewish immigrants who swept into New York in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by way of Ellis Island were not welcomed by the Jews who had arrived decades before. These refugees from czarist Russia and the Polish shtetls who came to America to escape pogroms and persecution were considered barbaric, uneducated, and too steeped in the traditions of the 'old country' to be accepted by the more refined and already well-established German-Jewish community. But the new arrivals were tough, passionate, and determined, and in no time they were moving up from the ghetto tenements of New York's Lower East Side to make their marks and their fortunes across the country in a variety of fields, from media and popular music to fashion, motion pictures, and even organized crime.
Among the unforgettable personages author Stephen Birmingham profiles are radio pioneer David Sarnoff, makeup mogul Helena Rubinstein, Hollywood tycoons Samuel Goldwyn and Harry Cohn, Broadway composer Irving Berlin, and mobster Meyer Lansky. From the author of 'Our Crowd', comes this treasure trove of fascinating tales and unforgettable 'rags-to-riches' success stories that celebrates the indomitable spirit of a unique community.
The New World's earliest Jewish immigrants and their unique, little-known history: A New York Times bestseller from the author of Life at the Dakota.
In 1654, twenty-three Jewish families arrived in New Amsterdam (now New York) aboard a French privateer. They were the Sephardim, members of a proud orthodox sect that had served as royal advisors and honored professionals under Moorish rule in Spain and Portugal but were then exiled from their homeland by intolerant monarchs. A small, closed, and intensely private community, the Sephardim soon established themselves as businessmen and financiers, earning great wealth. They became powerful forces in society, with some, like banker Haym Salomon, even providing financial support to George Washington's army during the American Revolution.
Yet despite its major role in the birth and growth of America, this extraordinary group has remained virtually impenetrable and unknowable to outsiders. From author of 'Our Crowd' Stephen Birmingham, The Grandees delves into the lives of the Sephardim and their historic accomplishments, illuminating the insulated world of these early Americans. Birmingham reveals how these families, with descendants including poet Emma Lazarus, Barnard College founder Annie Nathan Meyer, and Supreme Court Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo, influenced—and continue to influence—American society.
The New York Times–bestselling history of the rise of the most powerful and privileged Jewish families in America
They immigrated to America from Germany in the nineteenth century with names like Loeb, Sachs, Seligman, Lehman, Guggenheim, and Goldman. From tenements on the Lower East Side to Park Avenue mansions, this handful of Jewish families turned small businesses into imposing enterprises and amassed spectacular fortunes. But despite possessing breathtaking wealth that rivaled the Astors and Rockefellers, they were barred by the gentile establishment from the lofty realm of 'the 400,' a register of New York's most elite, because of their religion and humble backgrounds. In response, they created their own elite '100,' a privileged society as opulent and exclusive as the one that had refused them entry.
'Our Crowd' is the fascinating story of this rarefied society. Based on letters, documents, diary entries, and intimate personal remembrances of family lore by members of these most illustrious clans, it is an engrossing portrait of upper-class Jewish life over two centuries; a riveting story of the bankers, brokers, financiers, philanthropists, and business tycoons who started with nothing and turned their family names into American institutions.
In The Auerbach Will, the novel by America's most renowned chronicler of the rich, ambitious young Essie Litsky defies a rigid upbringing by immigrant Russian Jewish parents to achieve wealth and success. But her children tear Essie and her husband Jack Auerbach's family apart in fights over their fortune, and Essie finds that money will not mend broken lives. Stephen Birmingham concludes this complex family saga, set in the Park Avenue world he first portrayed in the bestselling Our Crowd, with a surprise revelation. The story of Essie Auerbach and the Auerbach Will is unforgettable.
Mireille "Mimi" Myerson is the elegant, charming and ambitious president of Miray Corporation. As Mimi attempts to achieve her dreams for the company, family jealousies, dangerous deceptions and marital pitfalls threaten to compromise her goals. Battling forces from within and without, Mimi struggles to make difficult choices to determine her own - and the company's - destiny.
