The House of Morgan Review

The House of Morgan

The House of Morgan tells the story of the Morgan dynasty and how they were one of the wealthiest families in American history. Their history began when George Peabody opened a company called George Peabody and Company in London in the early 1800’s. Since Peabody had no heirs, he asked Junius Morgan to take over the company in 1854. Junius renamed the company to J.S. Morgan and Company and created the foundation for the Morgan banking empire. Junius and his ancestors were able to create the modern American banking and finance systems still used today. Chernow illustrates rich history of four Morgan generations, and adds color and personality to the Morgan family.

Part one of the book, “The Baronial Age” was a very interesting and intriguing section for me. I think Chernow really created a page turner and ultimately enticed the reader. Junius Morgan took the bank to a different level when he went over to England to become the successor to Peabody. He brought his American business views over to England which was foreign to the English owned banking practices. The character that really interested me when he was introduced in the novel was Pierpont Morgan, Junius’s son. The way they introduced Pierpont and the physical appearance was great. It was amazing to read about Pierpont’s deformed nose and how self conscious he was about it. I figured a man with that type of money would have been able to have surgery to correct his nose, but at that time they didn’t have the technologies that we have today. Also, it was an actual disease called rosacea which I believe was untreatable. From reading the book, it seemed that Pierpont really created the Morgan dynasty. He was such a powerful and colorful character. He ran the bank in the age of the robber barrons, and during the rise of the American railroads, and big steel and oil industries.

It was amazing to read how much power the Morgan’s actually had. I actually couldn’t...