The Hour of Fate

Theodore Roosevelt, J.P. Morgan, and the Battle to Transform American Capitalism

The Hour of Fate
Susan Berfield
RRP:
NZ$ 26.99
Our Price:
NZ$ 21.59
Paperback
h210 x 140mm - 416pg
10 May 2022 US
International import eta 7-19 days
9781635578447
Out Of Stock
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A riveting narrative of Wall Street buccaneering, political intrigue, and two of American history' s most colossal characters, struggling for mastery in an era of social upheaval and rampant inequality. It seemed like no force in the world could slow J. P. Morgan' s drive to power. In the summer of 1901, the financier was assembling his next mega-deal: Northern Securities, an enterprise that would affirm his dominance in America' s most important industry-the railroads. Then, a bullet from an anarchist' s gun put an end to the business-friendly presidency of William McKinley. A new chief executive bounded into office: Theodore Roosevelt. He was convinced that as big business got bigger, the government had to check the influence of the wealthiest or the country would inch ever closer to collapse. By March 1902, battle lines were drawn: the government sued Northern Securities for antitrust violations. But as the case ramped up, the coal miners' union went on strike and the anthracite pits that fueled Morgan' s trains and heated the homes of Roosevelt' s citizens went silent. With millions of dollars on the line, winter bearing down, and revolution in the air, it was a crisis that neither man alone could solve. Richly detailed and propulsively told, The Hour of Fate is the gripping story of a banker and a president thrown together in the crucible of national emergency even as they fought in court. The outcome of the strike and the case would change the course of our history. Today, as the country again asks whether saving democracy means taming capital, the lessons of Roosevelt and Morgan' s time are more urgent than ever.
"Susan Berfield has written the rare book that makes you look at both the past and present in a new light. Deeply researched and beautifully written, The Hour of Fate tells the gripping tale of how a clash between the most powerful force in the history of Wall Street and a young, popular president set the stage for our current debates over the role and limits of wealth in a democracy. " --David K. Randall, New York Times bestselling author of BLACK DEATH AT THE GOLDEN GATE"The Hour of Fate is narrative nonfiction at its best. Susan Berfield brings to life the conflict between two of America' s most powerful men, J. P. Morgan and Theodore Roosevelt, and reveals how their battle over democracy and corporate power reshaped America. " --Adam Winkler, author of WE THE CORPORATIONS"Susan Berfield has captured a critical moment in American history with a ripping good yarn. Written with verve and a perceptive eye for detail, The Hour of Fate artfully brings to life two of our nation' s most celebrated personalities, caught in an astonishing drama even larger than themselves. It is impossible to read Berfield' s fast-paced and entertaining account of events a century ago without gaining deeper insight into the momentous events we wrestle with today. " --SCOTT MILLER, author of THE PRESIDENT AND THE ASSASSIN and AGENT 110"The Gilded Age meets the Progressive Era head-on in Susan Berfield' s gripping account of the Northern Securities case and of the 1902 coal famine crisis, when unlikely allies J. P. Morgan and Theodore Roosevelt joined forces against a looming winter without warmth or fuel. Well-researched and expertly told, this story of haves and have-nots-and a country at the precipice-speaks to our own precarious times, and will fascinate readers of financial and labor history. " --Philip Dray, author of THERE IS POWER IN A UNION and AT THE HANDS OF PERSONS UNKNOWN"[The Hour of Fate] ambitiously juggles several historic threads from a turbulent time in America: soaring immigration, labor unrest in the face of low wages and dangerous conditions, the seemingly untrammeled ambitions of big business, and the clamor for public accountability and oversight . . . An engaging historical work involving truly larger-than-life American characters. " --Kirkus Reviews"The Gilded Age created many a millionaire and many an impoverished worker. Between those opposites stood American politicians, some corrupted by wealth, others determined to redress the economic gulfs that American industry might have created . . . Berfield well portrays the major characters of this struggle without excessive detail, and her insights into both Roosevelt and Morgan make them seem quite contemporary. " --Booklist"A vivid account of the early 20th-century battle of wills between President Theodore Roosevelt and financier J. P. Morgan. . . Weaving together the perspectives of labor, capital, and government, Berfield . . . finds drama in complex and potentially dry business transactions, and makes insightful comparisons to today' s progressive movement. This entertaining account will resonate with American history buffs and those who agree with Berfield that ' the battle to make American capitalism more fair rages just as furiously' today as it did at the turn of the last century. " --Publishers Weekly
Susan Berfield is an award-winning investigative reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek and Bloomberg News, where she has covered some of America' s largest corporations. She has been interviewed on PBS NewsHour, NPR' s All Things Considered, Marketplace, On Point, and elsewhere. Her research for The Hour of Fate, her first book, took her to archives in New York, St. Paul, Washington, D. C. , and Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was supported by a Logan Nonfiction Fellowship. She lives in Brooklyn with her family.
Status: Indent title, imported to order
ISBN-13: 9781635578447
Published: 10 May 2022
Published In: United States
Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Format: Paperback
Height: 210mm
Width: 140mm
Pages: 416

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