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"From an acclaimed historian and financial analyst, the first definitive history of the legendary private investment firm Brown Brothers Harriman - and through it, the rise to world power of the so-called American Establishment. Conspiracy theories have always swirled around Brown Brothers Harriman, and not without reason. Throughout the 19th century, when America was convulsed by a devastating financial panic every generation, Brown Brothers quietly went from strength to strength, propping up the US financial system at crucial moments and catalyzing successive booms, from the cotton trade and the steam ship to the railroad, while avoiding unwelcome attention. By the turn of the 20th century, Brown Brothers was at the heart of what was meant by the American Establishment. As America's reach extended beyond its shores, Brown Brothers was there, often working hand in glove with the State Department, as in Nicaragua in the 1910's, when the firm was essentially empowered to take over the country's economy. To the Browns, virtuousness was a given; in that spirit they supported the elite institutions that forged successive generations of leaders. When, during the Great Depression, Brown Brothers ensured their strength by merging with Averell Harriman's investment bank to form Brown Brothers Harriman, the die was cast for the role the firm would play on the world stage during World War 2 and thereafter. Its core leadership cadre, including Harriman, Robert Lovett, and Prescott Bush, all Skull and Bones men from Yale, played a central role in erecting the architecture of the postwar order, with the US dollar at its heart. In Inside Money, Zachary Karabell offers the first full and frank look inside this very private institution as a prime mover in the larger American story. Blessed with complete access to the company's archives and a thrillingly strong grasp of the bigger picture, Karabell has written in effect an x-ray film of American power from 1818 to the present"-- |
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