Whims of Fortune: The Memoirs of Guy De Rothschild

by Guy De Rothschild

Preeminent among this generation of Rothschilds, the head of the French Rothschild Bank until its nationalization in 1981, recalls his high-powered, star-studded life as an international businessman and jet set leader

Genres: Biography, Memoir

Hardcover

First published April 1, 1985

Reviews

[Kevin Findley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a VERY interesting book to read. Rothschild touched on the key points in his life and the key points in history that he was involved with as well. For anyone remotely interested in the lives of the rich and famous, the book is an excellent peek behind the curtain. The same is true for anyone looking for a personal viewpoint on the bank collapse of the '20s, WWII or just how much of an upheaval France found itself in after Mitterand became President.

If you are a millennial age reader and have never heard of this man, you should pick up a copy. Guy de Rothschild would be the face of the 1 percent today, but his personal life will surprise and probably delight many of you.

[Wilkin Beall · Rating 3 out of 5]

It must be very difficult to write an auto biography without seeming at least a little full of yourself. No easy task and Rothschild succumbs to this malady in his own elegant way. I say 'elegant' because there is an elegance to the prose which is written in English rather than the author's native French. Did he have help writing it? There is nothing to suggest that he did. Fairly early on we are informed by the author that in the first few demoralizing weeks of WW2 when the French armies of which Rothschild is a part are overrun by the advancing Germans, he somehow earns the Croix de Guerre. How he did so is glossed over so successfully either out of embarrassment or forgetfulness that the reader needs to reread the passage to discover whether it happened at all. If Rothschild did something during those weeks which might have been considered extraordinary he should have found the intestinal fortitude to tell us what it was or not mention it at all. It is difficult for this war hero to explain that while his countrymen remained in virtual captivity by the Germans, he was forced to spend the first part of the war apartment living in New York with his family and finding time to rent a summer place on Long Island. The passage where Rothschild's transport ship from New York to London is torpedoed was well done and his subsequent rescue fortunate indeed. But he does little upon reaching England other than to wait for the Americans and British to invade Normandy. If he did anything noteworthy at all, he is too modest to mention it. After the war he just happens to hire the future prime minister of France, Georges Pompidou, as his company manager because he recognizes true talent and promotes it accordingly. Something about these passages does not ring true. Rothschild maintains many friendships with the rich, powerful, influential or famous as is to be expected from someone in such a wealthy family but we really learn very little about any of them. It really threatens to become an exercise in name dropping. As for his wife she appears as if by magic in the text and continues to appear from we know not where. It was a remarkable achievement to hide their introduction, courtship and subsequent relationship so thoroughly. There are some interesting asides that describe the true rather lamentable state of the Rothschild banking empire and the reader wonders if it was so unimaginatively managed how it survived at all. Perhaps Guy felt embarrassed about it in some way. He gives Pompidou credit for being a marvelously talented manager but I have no idea what he did to earn such a reputation. Clearly it helped to be such an intimate friend of Guy and his wife. Due to the author's misplaced modesty a great deal needs to be read between the lines, not an ideal way to understand human relationships. One gets the impression that on some level Rothschild wants to do a bit of old fashioned bragging but that he is simply too well bred.

Later in fact toward the end of the book Rothschild devotes a curious and revealing portrait of his second wife in a chapter devoted entirely to her, but too late I think for the book to recover. He does also write a few pages regarding his first wife. One gets the impression he limited her presence in this autobiography out of some concern for his health. His second wife seems none too broad minded. There is another chapter toward the end of the book which details a bizarre home invasion and kidnapping where somehow the kidnapper is let go by the authorities. Try that in the US. All in all, he reveals a few details about how the truly rich live and he makes a point not to apologize for it.

[Joshua Epperson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting view into the life of Guy de Rothschild and the family legacy