About the only thing I knew about the Rothschild family when I started this book was that they were rich. Very, very rich. To be honest, I'd never thought about how they got that way. This book tells us and, wow, it wasn't easy. It was even harder for the women of the family given the blatant sexist attitudes of the time Gutle Snapper married Mayer Amschel Rothschild in 1770. I won't even attempt to summarize this book as it contains exhaustive research and reaches into the early 2000s, so would direct you to the book blurb for more specific bits of info within. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58724796-the-women-of-rothschild
I have to also admit that I was expecting a drier, more scholarly read. Thank goodness I was wrong about that. Yes, it's long, but it also focuses on the people and how they reacted to events, not just the events of their lives. And, what amazing lives they lived. From Gutle's days in the surely claustrophobic confines of the Judengasse, a narrow, shadowy, crowded stretch of land on the east side of Frankfurt where Jews were basically confined (and forced to pay), to Miriam in more modern times as she moves about the world, they had an impact upon not just the family but the world. Let's just say, modern Israel owes the Rothschild family.
It was interesting to see how each generation moved within the norms of the time, from Gutle's days when Mayer's will cut her and his daughters out of his inheritance and basically turned over their well-being to their brothers, to Miriam's world which spanned the resistance movement of WWII into more modern times as a respected scientist and benefactor. Famous faces make an appearance, all of which kept me busy aligning my own knowledge of the time (being a history major helped) to movies given appearances by Clark Gable and Alec Guinness.
Bottom line, there's a great deal to take in from this book and I'll admit to reading it in bits and pieces and, gasp, yes, even skimming sections at times. I also spent some time going back and forth from the index to the topic listed to make sure I hadn't missed anything, wishing I had the time to read the lengthy list of articles and citations at the end. Admittedly, this isn't a book for everyone, making it difficult to rate, but if you love history, are intrigued at the idea of a woman's place in historic events, or are just simply curious about how this one family that began in dire poverty not only survived but thrived, give it a read. Yes, it's long but, hey, no one said you have to read it in one day.
Thanks #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for opening my eyes to not only a fascinating family and the role of its women throughout history but introducing me to some bits of history that I had only a passing knowledge of. Kudos to author #NatalieLivingstone for making that possible.
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