Blood Relations: The Rise & Fall of the Du Ponts of Delaware

by Leonard Mosley

This 343-page hardcover was published by Knopf in 1982.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History

Hardcover

First published July 14, 1980

About the author

Leonard Oswald Mosley OBE OStJ (11 February 1913 – June 1992) was a British journalist, historian, biographer and novelist. His works include five novels and biographies of General George Marshall, Reich Marshall Hermann Göring, Orde Wingate, Walt Disney, Charles Lindbergh, Du Pont family, Eleanor Dulles, Allen Welsh Dulles, John Foster Dulles and Darryl F. Zanuck. He also worked as chief war correspondent for London's The Sunday Times.

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having previously read Mosley's books about Hirohito, Goering and the Dulles family, I finally get up the conviction that this book, which had been laying about for years, might be worth a look. I didn't know much about the du Ponts or the corporations they founded.

Now, having finished it in under three days, I know quite a lot about the du Ponts, though not really so much about the business, this being more a biography of the principal members of the family than of the corporation named for them.

The focus of this book is on the persons who ran DuPont in its several incarnations and innumerable spin-offs from the time Pierre du Pont, a friend of Thomas Jefferson, and his family fled revolutionary France for the United States of America in 1799-1800 until the time of this text's composition in the late seventies--at which time the company was no longer truly under family control.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long, but surprisingly readable biography of the DuPont family in Delaware. The author manages to help the reader keep straight who is who. This is impressive, because the Duponts recycled the same 3 or 4 first names many many times, and there were lots of DuPonts to remember. I enjoyed reading this book.

[Sarah Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

For over a hundred years, Du Pont explosives played a pivotal role in nearly every war fought in the world. This work of non-fiction covers the history of the family behind the company, who profited handsomely from the gunpowder business and amassed a fortune. The recognized founder of the family, Pierre Samuel du Pont, was born in Paris in 1739 and was named inspector general of commerce under Louis XVI. The family arrived in America on New Year's Day, 1800 and it wasn't long before Pierre Samuel's son Eleuthere Irenee realized that the manufacture of gunpowder was woefully behind in America and decided to capitalize on this opportunity and found a spot on the Brandywine Creek that flowed through the farmlands of northern Delaware.

While at times I got bogged down in minutiae of the business details and the increasingly complicated family tree, I enjoyed this biography of the family behind the company. The descriptions of the early buildup of the company, complete with frequent explosions and deaths was compelling reading, as were the later descriptions of family drama and unimaginable wealth. By the 1920s, the du Pont family was becoming the richest family in the United States and "probably the world," as the "aggregate amount of money possessed by the du Pont clan far surpassed that of any other family" (297). This was assisted by their habit of keeping everything in the family by frequently marrying cousins. It was also interesting reading about how much pull they had over politics, namely in Delaware, but also later in Florida and elsewhere.

I was interested in this book because my hometown had a Du Pont factory in years past that manufactured nylon and employed a large number of people. While this was a small section of the book, it was interesting to read that the Du Pont company employed a team of chemists, one of whom went on to discover nylon, which ended up becoming a huge and very profitable side business for the company. Chemists were always part of the company as they sought to stay on the cutting edge of the manufacture of explosives. In later years, new inventions like nylon were just an added bonus as the business evolved from a family business in gunpowder to become a chemical corporation.

[Evan Gold · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has inspired me. P.S. Du Pont, at one time the patriarch of the most wealthy family in America, was called dad by his siblings. So baller.

This was one of three English books in my hostel in Paris. And you know what? Not that bad.

The du ponts might have had a thing for good old cousin lovin’ (hence the title: Blood Relations) but their story is a windy one (not unlike the one depicted in Titan about Rockefeller) with a major impact on US History.

The business friendly states of Florida and Delaware are both direct consequences of the dynasty.

And their chemicals still poison us today. So whoopie.

[Mike Shoop · Rating 5 out of 5]

A reread for me, after having read it about 40 years ago. Still interesting, well researched, fine narrative chronicling a prominent American dynasty, with all its many flaws and foibles and scandals and achievements. Mosley conducted copious research and interviews and was given access to materials not generally available to put together this nonfiction tome on the du Ponts, French immigrants who became famous and wealthy beyond measure for their gunpowder making industry on the Brandywine Creek in Delaware, which later grew into chemicals and other diverse products. Informative, fascinating, and reads like fiction. Glad I reread it.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a well detailed but very readable account of a reserved family that had dominated some sectors of American industry.

Since the book was published in 1980, it is not completely up to date (currently December 2020) but the history it does contain about the family- with it's focus on some of the principal members of the family which ran the company of the same name, not to mention others - was interesting.

[Sharon King · Rating 5 out of 5]

This family is fascinating and utterly amazing all the inventions they came up with. I enjoyed this book and just yesterday went to the Hagley museum to see where it all started (given I've practically been to every other dePont property). I find it all very fascinating!

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of this is too close to me.. so I will defer my review.