The Grandees, Stephen Birmingham
The Grandees, Stephen Birmingham
List: $42.99 | Sale: $30.10
Club: $21.49

The Grandees
America's Sephardic Elite

Author: Stephen Birmingham

Narrator: Mel Foster

Unabridged: 12 hr 56 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download (DRM Protected)

Published: 07/02/2019


Synopsis

The New World's earliest Jewish immigrants and their unique, little-known history: A New York Times bestseller from the author of Life at the Dakota.In 1654, twenty-three Jewish families arrived in New Amsterdam (now New York) aboard a French privateer. They were the Sephardim, members of a proud orthodox sect that had served as royal advisors and honored professionals under Moorish rule in Spain and Portugal but were then exiled from their homeland by intolerant monarchs. A small, closed, and intensely private community, the Sephardim soon established themselves as businessmen and financiers, earning great wealth. They became powerful forces in society, with some, like banker Haym Salomon, even providing financial support to George Washington's army during the American Revolution.Yet despite its major role in the birth and growth of America, this extraordinary group has remained virtually impenetrable and unknowable to outsiders. From author of "Our Crowd" Stephen Birmingham, The Grandees delves into the lives of the Sephardim and their historic accomplishments, illuminating the insulated world of these early Americans. Birmingham reveals how these families, with descendants including poet Emma Lazarus, Barnard College founder Annie Nathan Meyer, and Supreme Court Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo, influenced—and continue to influence—American society.

About Stephen Birmingham

Stephen Birmingham (1929–2015) was an American author of more than thirty books. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, he graduated from Williams College in 1953 and taught writing at the University of Cincinnati. Birmingham’s work focuses on the upper class in America. He’s written about the African American elite in Certain People and prominent Jewish society in Our Crowd: The Great Jewish Families of New York, The Grandees: The Story of America’s Sephardic Elite, and The Rest of Us: The Rise of America’s Eastern European Jews. His work also encompasses several novels including The Auerbach Will, The LeBaron Secret, Shades of Fortune, and The Rothman Scandal, and other non-fiction titles such as California Rich, The Grandes Dames, and Life at the Dakota: New York’s Most Unusual Address.


Reviews

Goodreads review by George on December 09, 2008

My rating is relevant to my relationship to this book: genealogy is a hobby, and the families described in this book are in my tree. If you are interested in the early Sephardic families of the US, this is an excellent book, and has enough stories to keep it interesting.......more

Goodreads review by Wayne on January 03, 2009

Gives one an interesting perspective in re the some of the less-publicized cultural artifacts which shaped our founders. Provides a good timetable for assessing the history of Judaism in America, as well as interesting insights into the cultural differencesas (and similarities) between the Sephardim......more

Goodreads review by Kelley on May 29, 2021

Little examined but fascinating niche of US history The Grandees is an interesting book examining a little known niche of US history — the migration of wealthy Sephardic Jews in the earliest days of the American colonies and their subsequent ancestors. It examines the evolution of the arrival of firs......more

Goodreads review by Julia on December 31, 2020

3.5 stars This was interesting but sometimes hard to follow. The author mentions many families of Sephardic background and I couldn't keep them straight. So the genealogy sections and the mentions of who married whom didn't hold my attention. I did like the short biographies of different people and h......more

Goodreads review by Emma on July 13, 2020

This book, while fascinating in topic, is very flawed. From little typos to very casual racism, I had many issues with this read.......more