John Jacob Astor: America's First Multimillionaire

by Axel Madsen

On The Deal Maker: How William C. Durant Made General Motors:
"A well-written biography."-New York Times

On Stanwyck: The Life and Times of Barbara Stanwyck:
"Madsen's admirably researched, insightful portrait of her aloof nature . . . reveals she was always torn between her wish to give of herself and her need to be in control."-Christian Science Monitor

On Chanel: A Woman of Her Own:
"Fascinating . . . . Takes the reader behind the coromandel veneers of Chanel's life."-New York Times Book Review
"Carefully knits together the complex pattern of Chanel's complicated existence. It's not an easy task."-Toronto Globe and Mail

On Gloria and Joe:
"Axel Madsen finally gives the public a fascinating chronicle of the romance that could have ruined more than two careers."-Dallas Morning News

On Cousteau:
"Both critical and understanding. And it is exceptionally readable. Readers are well advised to take the plunge."-Chicago Tribune

On Malraux:
"Will stand as the best of more than a dozen books about Malraux in print."-Kansas City Star

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History, American History

320 pages, Hardcover

First published December 31, 2000

About the author

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axel_Madsen

Reviews

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

John Jacob Astor's role in American business history and the development of New York City is worthy of a Chernow/Nasaw level biographical research effort, but none seems to exist! This is the best I could find, but the writing is horrible, as the author makes himself way too familiar with his subject. Painful to read at times, and one gets the impression that we're missing key parts of the story. As with all the Astor biographies, there's too much on the fur trade and not nearly enough on how he used money from those investments to essentially develop Manhattan island real estate. Astor needs a better book! I wish Chernow would take this on instead on writing a book on George Washington - he's been plenty covered by other superb writers, especially Flexner (though I'm looking forward to learning what Chernow has to say about Washinton).

[Karol · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Jacob Astor is one of the more intriguing characters I've come across in the early history of our nation. He was wealthy beyond understanding. His ethics were questionable, but his love for his family ran deep. The author's book is well-researched and brings up many points I found interesting about Astor, but I found the writing style rather dry.

[Keene]

Relatively dry, but I have a personal interest in Astor for genealogical reasons so I found it interesting.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good stories in here, from an excellent story teller, but a bit weak on his details, especially when it comes to who the Native Americans were. He calls the Cree tribe in northern Canada the Creek, which was a major tribe in the American southeast at that time, and still exists in the Oklahoma reservation, and says the Choctaw were fighting in British Columbia, while they are also in the American southeast, and a few other mis-statements. One of them wasn't his fault. He asserts Red Jacket was a war chief of the Tuscarora, when he was actually a war chief of the Seneca... but when I read the poem he referenced, a famous poet of JJ Astor's time, the poem itself says he was a Tuscarora chief. Oh well. He's just passing along misinformation. But I trust his research into JJ's own papers was good, and the stories he tells about him are so much fun! So it is worth a very enjoyable reading.

[Laura Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting that you could become a multimillionaire trading in furs.

[Scott Hardy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Historial Confusion

[Steve Courson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Primarily about the western fur trade. At times it is written like it is meant for middle schoolers, at others it is engaging.

[Paul Mamani · Rating 4 out of 5]

When he was a boy, he depended in his abusive daddy and the help of some friends....
With the years he left Germany and moved to England and from there to NY.

The marriage with his wife Sarah in America changed his life...cuz she comes from a good family.
Later making commerce with native Americans.

His persistence and good sight for business was sucessul.
He become a wealthy fur trader funding the American Fur Company and trading thoughth Europe and China.
He was a financial genius when the fur trading was lowering and the crises hitting he decided to invest in real state....wow the returns were by millions....making him the first American billionaire.

He suffered when his wife and child died....he become a shy and solitary mogul

And by recommendations of a writer he decided to built the NY Library to leave a legacy to the sociaty.

He was very rational in the Deutsch way....he passed away in his house in NY....becomming the the first American billionaire.

[Marks54 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author writes a number of short biographies like this. They are not rich enough to rival biographers like Maury Klein or Jean Strouse but they are informative. This books is about Astor and his career as one of the first American tycoons. He made his money buying and selling furs in the early 1800s and was perceptive enough to see the non-sustainability of the business, so he shifted his fortune out of the American Fur company and moved it into Manhattan real estate. History has shown that this was not a bad move to make. He was an interesting character, although not much good is conveyed about the descendants. Overall, some new tidbits and an entertaining presentation, but closer to fast food than to a fine meal.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author makes the most of an unpromising subject. Astor was all about money, period. He did manage a commercial empire that spanned the globe, no mean feat a the start on the 19th century. Very similar to our current president in his paucity of empathy or soul.

[Steven Yoder · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Jacob Astor had a knack for making money. He became rich in 3 industries: shipping, the fur trade and buying and selling land in New York City. Overall he was pretty greedy and stingy. He gave very little to charity.

[Michael Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Became somewhat tedious, but gave enough detail about his fur trading, shipping and real estate to make it interesting.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read but not much insight about the man. Book mostly about the fur trade industry and very little about his real estate investments or business acumen.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting, but Astor was an ass. And there were a weird amount of typos in this version.