Saturday, June 02, 2012

Four top books about misunderstood lives

H. W. Brands's latest book is The Heartbreak of Aaron Burr.

At The Daily Beast, he named a four best list of books on misunderstood lives, including:
The Life and Legend of Jay Gould
by Maury Klein

“The example he set is a dangerous one to follow,” declared the New York Herald on Jay Gould’s death. Joseph Pulitzer called Gould “one of the most sinister figures that ever flitted bat-like across the vision of the American people.” To be sure, Gould robbed and wrecked the Erie Railroad in making his way to the top rank of Wall Street speculators, and he brought the American financial system to its knees when he tried to corner the gold market in 1869. But he mellowed in maturity and, as Klein, a keen student of business history, makes clear, became a positive force in the development of the American economy.
Read about another book Brands tagged.

--Marshal Zeringue