The Tycoons, Charles R. Morris
The Tycoons, Charles R. Morris
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The Tycoons
How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan Invented the American Supereconomy

Author: Charles R. Morris

Narrator: William Hughes

Unabridged: 14 hr 35 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/16/2014

Synopsis

The modern American economy was the creation of four men: Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan. They were the giants of the Gilded Age, a moment of riotous growth that established America as the richest, most inventive, and most productive country on the planet.Acclaimed author Charles R. Morris vividly brings these men and their times to life. The ruthlessly competitive Carnegie, the imperial Rockefeller, and the provocateur Gould were obsessed with progress, experiment, and speed. They were balanced by Morgan, the gentleman businessman, who fought, instead, for a global trust in American business. Through their antagonism and verve, they built an industrial behemoth—and a country of middle-class consumers. The Tycoons tells the incredible story of how these four determined men wrenched the economy into the modern age, inventing a nation of full economic participation that could not have been imagined only a few decades earlier.

About Charles R. Morris

Charles R. Morris is a lawyer and former banker. He has written more than a dozen books and is a regular contributor to the Atlantic, Wall Street Journal,  Los Angeles Times, and many other publications.

About William Hughes

William Hughes is an AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator. A professor of political science at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon, he received his doctorate in American politics from the University of California at Davis. He has done voice-over work for radio and film and is also an accomplished jazz guitarist.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Bob on February 20, 2012

Two pretty solid books mashed messily into a single volume. The lives of the Tycoons are recounted here, but they are interrupted and interspersed by chapters chronicling the overall development of the US industrial economy. These chapters are good in and of themselves: the section on the American m......more

Goodreads review by Jeremy on April 06, 2014

Charles Morris' book deals with how the United States went from a patched together society after the Civil War to having one of the most powerful economies in the history of the world. Many historians have clashed over the `great man' theory and social history, this book gives you a bit of both. The......more

Goodreads review by Gary on May 01, 2022

So this is one of those books I wanted to read... kind of expecting it to make me mad... Rich folks bending rules to make tons of $$$ - most often at the expense of the little guy... whether that be the small business owner or the front line workers. So did the book deliver? Kind of. In many places......more

Goodreads review by Rose on January 11, 2023

Indeed, this really was "the story of the rise of the nerds." (See Page 33.) Only let's keep in mind, many of us Goodreaders are nerds. We also manage to be caring people who prize honor over greed. The same can't necessarily be said of Andrew Carnegia, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, or J.P. Morgan. O......more

Goodreads review by Johan on December 27, 2021

The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould and J.P. Morgan Invented the American Supereconomy is a book of about 400 pages, telling the story of how these four men, and many more that we get to meet in the book, took an active part in shaping the American economy into the moder......more

Quotes

“Morris skillfully assembles a great deal of academic and anecdotal research…Impressive.”

New York Times Book Review

“Morris displays a cultural diarist’s careful attention to detail that makes a reader feel like a time traveler plopped down among men who were by turns vicious and visionary.”

Christian Science Monitor

“Superb…Gracefully and eloquently clarifies these men’s frequently misunderstood roles in the shaping of modern US commerce.”

Providence Journal

“Following the end of the Civil War, American per capita production and consumption grew rapidly, the population soared, and the US economy surged past Great Britain’s—a radical transformation that Morris chronicles through the lives of four protagonists…More an economic argument than an exposition of history or biography, Morris’ volume analyzes long-term historical trends and their influence on modern affairs. The result is a fascinating revisionist interpretation in which Gould and Rockefeller come off better than conventional wisdom suggests, and Carnegie and Morgan worse. Readers…will be intrigued by his original angle on the robber barons.”

Publishers Weekly

“An excellent picture of the growth of American business that made the United States an economic powerhouse.”

Library Journal

“Morris profiles the four big ‘robber barons’ of post-Civil War America…Although all four would probably have excelled in any era, it was the machine age, the move from an agricultural to a manufacturing society, and the concurrent rise of mass consumption, that created an environment for their megasuccess. Morris shows how the inventiveness and spirit of the American worker in the later 1800s led to a surge of growth that had the United States roaring past Great Britain to become the world’s top producer. ‘Scientific management’ of factories created interchangeable parts and assembly lines, bringing branded foods and labor-saving home appliances to the people. Morris brings home how the rapid expansion produced a ‘supply shock’ that overshadows any so-called paradigm shift that we may be experiencing today.”

Booklist

Awards

  • Barron Best Book
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