Rating: 
Summary: Thorough Biography
Review: Jean Strouse's thorough biography on J.P. Morgan was...thorough. Strouse must have gone through a tremendous amount of work to put together this almost 700-page book. The result of her toil was an in-depth study of J.P. Morgan's life. The biography is divided into four parts, which makes it easier if one would prefer to skip around and concentrate on only certain aspects of Morgan's life and career. I most enjoyed Part I, which discussed the formation of his character. This section went through extreme detail of his parents and his childhood. What a surprise to learn that Morgan was a relation to Jonathan Edwards and Aaron Burr! Even though the biography was a great length and did become rather boring at parts, it is a must read for those who wish to learn more about J.P. Morgan. Without him, America would not be what it is today.
Rating:
Summary: History is subject to a tyranny of the articulate
Review: JP Morgan ruled finance like Napoleon or Caesar ruled the battlefield, but he could never express himself clearly. On a good day he was about as eloquent as George W. Bush. Yet he would see what needed to be done and do it; words never entered the process. This theme runs through Ms. Strouse's book (the review's title is a quote). Yet Morgan's inability to clearly express himself in no way affected his ability to understand his work. Ms. Strouse wrote a beautifully ironic book: an eloquent elegy to an inarticulate leader, and this way voicing in her biography what Morgan could not himself express. The book gives serious readers a refreshing dose of humility; it is a welcome argument on why we need to look beyond the sound bite when evaluating today's leaders (such as GWB, like him or not).
Rating: 
Summary: Financier or art collector?
Review: JP Morgan was a financier and was maybe the most powerful one between 1880 and 1910. This book reads like a novel - which is not necessarily a bad thing - but unfortunately does not explain how he came to such prominence; Jean Strouse merely notes the facts but fails to explain how the deals were done or why JP was so good at his job. I would have liked a little more insight into the world of finance; instead, we are treated to an in-depth review of his art purchases, with the price, provenance and shipping details. In addition, we know who he beat at auction to acquire the pieces. I cannot believe that JP Morgan simply had all that money at his disposal - he must have done something to make it; we never learn how. A little long, stingy in the financial details and overly detailed in the peripherals.
Rating: 
Summary: Long on unnecessary detail, short on insight
Review: Ms. Strouse has confused detail with insight: after wading through this book I still have no real understanding of who the man was. Perhaps Morgan is just a difficult subject, but Ms. Strouse tackles him by giving you reams of data in the hope that this will show just how well she's researched her subject. In fact, you DON'T care about the name of EACH painting he bought, or WHEN, or for how much. She tells you this ad nauseam. You DON'T have to know the name of each and every ship he sailed in, nor the time and date of each voyage he took. She DOESN'T have any grasp of the financial world, and it shows: her discussions of his life's work, finance, are shallow. I would absolutely NOT recommend this book. And just to show you all that I'm not a curmudgeon, I LOVED the following biographies: Truman (McCulloch); Churchill (Manchester); Rockefeller (Chernow)...Ms. Strouse needs to learn that a judicious selection of facts is crucial to presenting a balanced view. Repetition of every fact you've learned about your subject is just overload.
Rating: 
Summary: GROSSLY OVER-RATED
Review: ONE WONDERS IF STARY-EYED REVIEWERS ACTUALLY READ THIS TOMB? RAMBLING,DISJOINTED,INACCURATE.(SHE HAS PITTSBURG 5000 MILES FROM ST LOUIS.) IMPOSSIBLE TO DECYPHER MS. STROUSE'S INTERPATION OF FIANIANCAL TRANCTIONS.A REAL DISAPOINTMENT.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing historical perspective
Review: Strouse goes into amazing detail (at times a bit thick, but always fascinating) as she charts Morgan's entire life--out of which context emerge the outlines of a number of the most significant shifts in emerging global finance coming out of the American Civil War: 1) moving captial to the US from Europe to refinance Civil War debt and contribute to the building of the US industrial base 2)a broad shift from debt-based financing to equity-based financing, and 3)the (at the time) scandalous shift in valuing companies from book-value to multiples of earnings (the financial media of the day descried that Morgan, at one point, got international backing for a shipping combination valued at between 2 and 3 times annual revenues). Insights the Strouse bio makes accessible inform the daily world around us in bounteous ways that make this book an incredibly worthwhile (as well as compelling) read. In this morning's WSJ, there was discussion of Iran now making good on previously nationalized assets so as to make Iran a more attractive place for international investors; the discussion of the bond market in light of the stock market's powerful gains continues; and individual investors as well as institutions are forever coming to terms with the fact that the market continues to support companies with what have traditionally been considered wildly high p/e ratios. Add to the mix that Morgan was a fascinating man--as interested in the details of the dresses he had made for his wife, daughters, and mistresses as in the contents of his library, the speed of and fittings on his latest yacht, as well as the characters of the men who worked for him and with whom he chose to form investing syndicates, and you have a delightful, powerful biography.
Rating:
Summary: A Readable, Accessible Biography
Review: Strouse's book is a very good read: accessible, informative, interesting. She writes clearly and evenly, and frequently uses a winking sort of humor to enliven her presentation of a terribly earnest fellow. The scope of her research was quite extraordinary, as she became familiar enough with 19th century finance and art history to write about both informatively and at length. Undoubtedly other writers have discussed Morgan's financial dealings, or his art collections, in greater detail; Strouse's approach was to write a terrific overall biography for a general audience, and she succeeded well.
Rating:
Summary: A Readable, Accessible Biography
Review: Strouse's book is a very good read: accessible, informative, interesting. She writes clearly and evenly, and frequently uses a winking sort of humor to enliven her presentation of a terribly earnest fellow. The scope of her research was quite extraordinary, as she became familiar enough with 19th century finance and art history to write about both informatively and at length. Undoubtedly other writers have discussed Morgan's financial dealings, or his art collections, in greater detail; Strouse's approach was to write a terrific overall biography for a general audience, and she succeeded well.
Rating:
Summary: Not as engaging as The House of Morgan
Review: Strouse's work is truly a tour de force. The book's subject deserves such a royal treatment. Some myths have been broken (for instance, the anecdote about a partner's wife commenting on Morgan's nose, which was mentioned in Chernow's 1990 book). Still, one gets the impression that Chernow's book was more engaging than Strouse's work.
Rating:
Summary: Morgan: American Financier
Review: The presence of J.P. Morgan looms large over the financial and economic landscape of the Gilded Age. Either castigated for wielding economic clout or praised for providing stability to the industrial order, Morgan has remained a mystery. Although recent scholars V. Carosso and R. Chernow have studied the financial activities of the House of Morgan, there have been few biographies of Morgan. Making use of new archive sources and the extensive collection of Morgan materials in the Pierpont Morgan Library, Strouse fills this void with a masterful biography. She carefully depicts Morgan's taciturn personality, his financial tutelage under a critical father, and his relations with both wives and his children. Strouse provides a balanced evaluation of Morgan's financial activities, carefully articulating his role as the nation's unofficial central banker. He attracted European capital to American enterprises, organized new corporations to promote efficiency, consolidated bankrupt railroads, worked to stabilize financial markets when crises arose, and established new business structures. While Morgan was frequently demonized for his activities, Strouse argues that he often acted in the nation's best interests (and his own). His role as art collector is also examined. Students of the Gilded Age will find this biography essential reading. Highly recommended for all economic and business history collections.
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