Awards
- Winner of <DIV>Named Book of the Year by the Illinois State Historical Society (2007).</DIV> 2007
Overview
Standing alongside J. P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, and John D. Rockefeller, Charles Tyson Yerkes (1837-1905) was one of the most colorful and controversial public figures in nineteenth-century America. Robber Baron is the first biography of the streetcar magnate who was the mastermind behind Chicago's Loop Elevated and the London Underground and namesake of the University of Chicago's observatory. Yerkes also served as the inspiration for Frank Cowperwood, the ruthless protagonist of Theodore Dreiser's Trilogy of Desire: The Financier, The Titan, and The Stoic. Despite various philanthropic efforts, Yerkes and his methods were despised by the press and public after he was exposed for making millions from questionable financial transactions. John Franch has drawn upon every available source to tell the complete story of a man desperate to leave a lasting impression on his world. Yerkes's enduring public works and remarkable history are a testament to his success, but Robber Baron reveals that his legacy wasn't as sparkling as he might have hoped.
Full Product Details
Author: John Franch
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Imprint: University of Illinois Press
Edition: New edition
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 2.80cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.626kg
ISBN: 9780252075179
ISBN 10: 025207517
Pages: 384
Publication Date: 10 January 2008
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Out of stock
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.
Reviews
Robber Baron is a welcome addition to the surprisingly small shelf of full-length biographies of Chicago's storied entrepreneurs and can be read for profit by anyone intrigued by one of the most notorious of the men to have built the material foundations on which the city's prosperity has come to rest. Chicago Tribune A fascinating window into the workings of laissez-faire capitalism. Yerkes, one of the most notorious self-made men of nineteenth-century America, embodied the drive, avarice, and unscrupulousness of his age - taking each to its limits... Franch's narrative of the ups and down of Yerkes's career is well written and has considerable dramatic tension. Enterprise & Society A superb biography: The research is thorough, the prose is clear, the narrative is compelling and the judgments are fair. Wall Street Journal
Biographies of American capitalists are having a big impact today. Robber Baron is well-constructed and lively, and will fill an important gap in the historical literature of the Gilded Age. -- Roger A. Bruns, author of The Damndest Radical: The Life and World of Ben Reitman, Chicago's Celebrated Social Reformer, Hobo King, and Whorehouse Physician
Robber Baron is a welcome addition to the surprisingly small shelf of full-length biographies of Chicago's storied entrepreneurs and can be read for profit by anyone intrigued by one of the most notorious of the men to have built the material foundations on which the city's prosperity has come to rest. Chicago Tribune A fascinating window into the workings of laissez-faire capitalism. Yerkes, one of the most notorious self-made men of nineteenth-century America, embodied the drive, avarice, and unscrupulousness of his ageo taking each to its limits... Franch's narrative of the ups and down of Yerkes's career is well written and has considerable dramatic tension. Enterprise & Society A superb biography: The research is thorough, the prose is clear, the narrative is compelling and the judgments are fair. Wall Street Journal
Robber Baron is a welcome addition to the surprisingly small shelf of full-length biographies of Chicago's storied entrepreneurs and can be read for profit by anyone intrigued by one of the most notorious of the men to have built the material foundations on which the city's prosperity has come to rest. Chicago Tribune A fascinating window into the workings of laissez-faire capitalism. Yerkes, one of the most notorious self-made men of nineteenth-century America, embodied the drive, avarice, and unscrupulousness of his age-- taking each to its limits... Franch's narrative of the ups and down of Yerkes's career is well written and has considerable dramatic tension. Enterprise & Society A superb biography: The research is thorough, the prose is clear, the narrative is compelling and the judgments are fair. Wall Street Journal
""Robber Baron is a welcome addition to the surprisingly small shelf of full-length biographies of Chicago's storied entrepreneurs and can be read for profit by anyone intrigued by one of the most notorious of the men to have built the material foundations on which the city's prosperity has come to rest."" Chicago Tribune ""A fascinating window into the workings of laissez-faire capitalism. Yerkes, one of the most notorious self-made men of nineteenth-century America, embodied the drive, avarice, and unscrupulousness of his age-- taking each to its limits... Franch's narrative of the ups and down of Yerkes's career is well written and has considerable dramatic tension."" Enterprise & Society ""A superb biography: The research is thorough, the prose is clear, the narrative is compelling and the judgments are fair."" Wall Street Journal
Author Information
John Franch is coauthor of An Illini Place: Building the University of Illinois Campus.
