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The Sassoons: The Great Global Merchants and the Making of an Empire
A spectacular generational saga of the making (and undoing) of a family the riveting untold story of the gilded Jewish Bagdadi Sassoons, who built a vast empire through global finance and trade—cotton, opium, shipping, banking—that reached across three continents and ultimately changed the destinies of nations. With full access to rare family photographs and archives.
“Engaging...compelling...well-paced and supremely satisfying. ”— The New York Times
They were one of the richest families in the world for two hundred years, from the 19th century to the 20th, and were known as ‘the Rothschilds of the East.’
Mesopotamian in origin, and for more than forty years the chief treasurers to the pashas of Baghdad and Basra, they were forced to flee to Bushir on the Persian Gulf; David Sassoon and sons starting over with nothing, and beginning to trade in India in cotton and opium.
The Sassoons soon were building textile mills and factories, and setting up branches in shipping in China, and expanding beyond, to Japan, and further west, to Paris and London. They became members of British parliament; were knighted; and owned and edited Britain’s leading newspapers, including The Sunday Times and The Observer .
And in 1887, the exalted dynasty of Sassoon joined forces with the banking empire of Rothschild and were soon joined by marriage, fusing together two of the biggest Jewish commerce and banking families in the world.
Against the monumental canvas of two centuries of the Ottoman Empire and the changing face of the Far East, across Europe and Great Britain during the time of its farthest reach, Joseph Sassoon gives us a riveting generational saga of the making of this magnificent family dynasty.
“Engaging...compelling...well-paced and supremely satisfying. ”— The New York Times
They were one of the richest families in the world for two hundred years, from the 19th century to the 20th, and were known as ‘the Rothschilds of the East.’
Mesopotamian in origin, and for more than forty years the chief treasurers to the pashas of Baghdad and Basra, they were forced to flee to Bushir on the Persian Gulf; David Sassoon and sons starting over with nothing, and beginning to trade in India in cotton and opium.
The Sassoons soon were building textile mills and factories, and setting up branches in shipping in China, and expanding beyond, to Japan, and further west, to Paris and London. They became members of British parliament; were knighted; and owned and edited Britain’s leading newspapers, including The Sunday Times and The Observer .
And in 1887, the exalted dynasty of Sassoon joined forces with the banking empire of Rothschild and were soon joined by marriage, fusing together two of the biggest Jewish commerce and banking families in the world.
Against the monumental canvas of two centuries of the Ottoman Empire and the changing face of the Far East, across Europe and Great Britain during the time of its farthest reach, Joseph Sassoon gives us a riveting generational saga of the making of this magnificent family dynasty.
432 pages, Hardcover
Published October 25, 2022
151 people are currently reading
816 people want to read
About the author
Joseph Sassoon
22 books13 followersJoseph Sassoon is Professor of History and Political Economy at Georgetown's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies and holds the al-Sabah Chair in Politics and Political Economy of the Arab World. He is also a Senior Associate Member at St Antony’s College, Oxford, where he also completed his PhD. Professor Sassoon, whose research focuses on political economy, economic history, Iraq, Iraqi refugees, and authoritarianism, has published extensively and is the author of five books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
November 21, 2022
The Sassoon dynasty brings the story of the rise and fall of the Sassoon family, which has its roots in Baghdad. They were one of the richest families of their time and were known as ‘the Rothschilds of the East.’
David Sassoon’s father begins this family tree in the 18th century. His father makes his name by marrying into one of Baghdad’s most prominent Jewish families. David assumes the role of heir to the business. The ethics on which David founds his business quite differ from the ones of his successors, which later seems to play the big part in the downfall of the empire.
Due to tumultuous situation, David flees Baghdad for Iran. With extensive contacts in the Persian Gulf, developed over the years by his father, David uses it to his advantage. He also learns a lot from sailors and traders returning from India. It leads him to a decision to make his way to Bombay.
David familiarizes himself with the merchants of the city and their trades, and gradually builds his business. Besides his business, he pays attention to his religion, family and his children’s education. He encourages his sons to travel and to learn independence.
Opium and cotton were the main force that transformed Bombay. As many made their fortunes in opium and cotton, so did the Sassoon family. By the 1880s, the family owns more cotton mills than any other in Bombay. David also adds tea, silk, and more to his growing empire. As his business expends, his generosity grows as well. He is active in philanthropy.
Five years after the death of David, the company he had founded faces its first threat. The cotton market is losing steam. There are also growing tensions between the brothers, leading to disagreements. The split between two eldest brothers leads to competition between them, thus between two global businesses. Then, comes the decline of opium.
With the decline of business, some members of the family continue an extravagant life, spending exorbitant amount of money. Buying acres of lands in England in order to join the ranks of the English aristocracy was probably their biggest downfall.
As this fascinating story is revealed it also weaves the history of the places the Sassoons operated in, the opium account and the wars fought over it, the cotton background and how the American Civil War brought the collapse of its cotton business, and how those wars and others had a ripple effect around the globe; and how they had to keep up with the dramatic developments.
It is written in detail, but not in an overwhelming way. Thus, the progression of the story has a good pace. It breathes in the family dynamics, which on some level makes it a relatable story, and well-presented.
“The Sassoons’ story is also a lesson on how refugee families contribute to the welfare of the world.”
Thank you @pantheonbooks @penguinrandomhouse for the gifted book.
David Sassoon’s father begins this family tree in the 18th century. His father makes his name by marrying into one of Baghdad’s most prominent Jewish families. David assumes the role of heir to the business. The ethics on which David founds his business quite differ from the ones of his successors, which later seems to play the big part in the downfall of the empire.
Due to tumultuous situation, David flees Baghdad for Iran. With extensive contacts in the Persian Gulf, developed over the years by his father, David uses it to his advantage. He also learns a lot from sailors and traders returning from India. It leads him to a decision to make his way to Bombay.
David familiarizes himself with the merchants of the city and their trades, and gradually builds his business. Besides his business, he pays attention to his religion, family and his children’s education. He encourages his sons to travel and to learn independence.
Opium and cotton were the main force that transformed Bombay. As many made their fortunes in opium and cotton, so did the Sassoon family. By the 1880s, the family owns more cotton mills than any other in Bombay. David also adds tea, silk, and more to his growing empire. As his business expends, his generosity grows as well. He is active in philanthropy.
Five years after the death of David, the company he had founded faces its first threat. The cotton market is losing steam. There are also growing tensions between the brothers, leading to disagreements. The split between two eldest brothers leads to competition between them, thus between two global businesses. Then, comes the decline of opium.
With the decline of business, some members of the family continue an extravagant life, spending exorbitant amount of money. Buying acres of lands in England in order to join the ranks of the English aristocracy was probably their biggest downfall.
As this fascinating story is revealed it also weaves the history of the places the Sassoons operated in, the opium account and the wars fought over it, the cotton background and how the American Civil War brought the collapse of its cotton business, and how those wars and others had a ripple effect around the globe; and how they had to keep up with the dramatic developments.
It is written in detail, but not in an overwhelming way. Thus, the progression of the story has a good pace. It breathes in the family dynamics, which on some level makes it a relatable story, and well-presented.
“The Sassoons’ story is also a lesson on how refugee families contribute to the welfare of the world.”
Thank you @pantheonbooks @penguinrandomhouse for the gifted book.
August 18, 2022
The Sassoons
Today, Vidal Sassoon may be the only Sassoon people have heard about (some may know the poet Siegfried Sassoon) but in the 19th century they family was one of the wealthiest in the world. A family of astute and brilliant traders, they ended up with nothing after the takeover of the Communists in China.
James Sassoon tells the story of his family and how difficult it is to pass wealth from generation to generation. David Sassoon was a leader in the Baghdadi Jewish community, building a thriving business and serving as treasurer to pashas. But prejudice was building against Jews in Iraq and the Sassoons moved to Mumbai in the early 19th century. There, they established massive businesses in opium and textiles. David Sassoon was a brilliant businessman, earning the esteem of the British (even though he spoke little English) and becoming a civic-minded pillar of the business community.
He focused on China and Hong King, sending several of his sons to England for school. When he died things began to unravel as his sons began to squabble and the network of personal connections he had built frayed. By the 20th century his descendants were part of the British social world, more interested in playing polo than keeping a finger on the pulse of world trade.
Most of “The Sassoons” is pretty interesting, showing us how businesses worked in the Orthodox world of Iraq and India, how veering from that path brought disaster. James Sassoon’s writing style is spare and frank, and the book could have benefitted from more personal stories about the family, especially David. The feeling is that we don’t know much about these people even though they wrote a gazillion letters, every day, all the time, to everyone. These were written in a Baghdadi Jewish dialect which might be hard to decipher, but it’s hard to imagine there’s so little source material about such a prominent family.
Still, it’s a look at the rise and fall of a powerful family, plus the glimpse at the working of 19th century Indian and middle-eastern commerce.
Today, Vidal Sassoon may be the only Sassoon people have heard about (some may know the poet Siegfried Sassoon) but in the 19th century they family was one of the wealthiest in the world. A family of astute and brilliant traders, they ended up with nothing after the takeover of the Communists in China.
James Sassoon tells the story of his family and how difficult it is to pass wealth from generation to generation. David Sassoon was a leader in the Baghdadi Jewish community, building a thriving business and serving as treasurer to pashas. But prejudice was building against Jews in Iraq and the Sassoons moved to Mumbai in the early 19th century. There, they established massive businesses in opium and textiles. David Sassoon was a brilliant businessman, earning the esteem of the British (even though he spoke little English) and becoming a civic-minded pillar of the business community.
He focused on China and Hong King, sending several of his sons to England for school. When he died things began to unravel as his sons began to squabble and the network of personal connections he had built frayed. By the 20th century his descendants were part of the British social world, more interested in playing polo than keeping a finger on the pulse of world trade.
Most of “The Sassoons” is pretty interesting, showing us how businesses worked in the Orthodox world of Iraq and India, how veering from that path brought disaster. James Sassoon’s writing style is spare and frank, and the book could have benefitted from more personal stories about the family, especially David. The feeling is that we don’t know much about these people even though they wrote a gazillion letters, every day, all the time, to everyone. These were written in a Baghdadi Jewish dialect which might be hard to decipher, but it’s hard to imagine there’s so little source material about such a prominent family.
Still, it’s a look at the rise and fall of a powerful family, plus the glimpse at the working of 19th century Indian and middle-eastern commerce.
May 26, 2023
This book takes a deep dive into the Sassoon family. The family originated with Sassoon ben Salih, who, along with his family, were the treasurers of the pashas of Baghdad. He had two sons, David and Joseph, who ultimately wound up leaving the area due to political issues. David wound up in Bombay for a while, mixing himself up in the opium trade, and raking in the dough. Despite the fact that he made his money in an unfortunate way, he did a lot of philanthropy work. His drug money built schools, hospitals, and museums, providing jobs and resources for many people. David and Joseph expanded not only their businesses, but their families. Each generation had all kinds of business deals, resulting in the cementing of this family as one of the richest and most influential families of the time. Several members were involved in politics and rubbed elbows with Edward VII, Prince of Wales.
The author of this book, Joseph Sassoon, is a distant relative of the original Sassoon family. He has has a pretty amazing career all on his own. In addition to being an accomplish author, he is currently the director of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies and Professor of History and Political Economy at Georgetown University. He is also an associate at St. Antony's College in Oxford. He is fluent in several languages, which helped him in his research into the family, as a lot of documents were in various languages. In addition to learning about this family, I also enjoyed learning about this author. In a time were anti-Jewish sentiment is on the rise and loud, it is nice to be able to support people in the community and learn about different aspects of Jewish history. I have to admit most of my knowledge of Jewish history comes from whatever I have learned as a World War II history major, and not from other sources or people. I am absolutely going to look into more of this type of material, because there is a long, rich history that I am missing out on knowing about. The author did an interview, which I looked up after I finished this book, and one of the things that he said he hoped people would take away from this book is that migrant people are human beings that often leave their homes with next to nothing and fight their way up from the bottom. That is something that a lot of people could do with considering.
This book was amazing. The only Sassoon name that I had ever heard prior to seeing this book was Vidal Sassoon, and, as it turns out, he was only distantly related to the family that this book focuses on. (He was related to them through his father, David Sassoon, who resided in London. His mother was an Ashkenazi Jew, which is also a very neat fact.) I had no idea about the work the members of this family put in to make a name for themselves, and certainly had never heard of the "Rothschilds Of The East" as they were often called. Obviously, the author has a lot of first hand information to go with, but the book was exceptionally well researched. To be a book about family dynasties, it was certainly not dry or tedious to read. I wish that I would have gotten to this book sooner. It was a lot of fun learning about all of these people and the influences they had in business and society that can still be seen today.
The author of this book, Joseph Sassoon, is a distant relative of the original Sassoon family. He has has a pretty amazing career all on his own. In addition to being an accomplish author, he is currently the director of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies and Professor of History and Political Economy at Georgetown University. He is also an associate at St. Antony's College in Oxford. He is fluent in several languages, which helped him in his research into the family, as a lot of documents were in various languages. In addition to learning about this family, I also enjoyed learning about this author. In a time were anti-Jewish sentiment is on the rise and loud, it is nice to be able to support people in the community and learn about different aspects of Jewish history. I have to admit most of my knowledge of Jewish history comes from whatever I have learned as a World War II history major, and not from other sources or people. I am absolutely going to look into more of this type of material, because there is a long, rich history that I am missing out on knowing about. The author did an interview, which I looked up after I finished this book, and one of the things that he said he hoped people would take away from this book is that migrant people are human beings that often leave their homes with next to nothing and fight their way up from the bottom. That is something that a lot of people could do with considering.
This book was amazing. The only Sassoon name that I had ever heard prior to seeing this book was Vidal Sassoon, and, as it turns out, he was only distantly related to the family that this book focuses on. (He was related to them through his father, David Sassoon, who resided in London. His mother was an Ashkenazi Jew, which is also a very neat fact.) I had no idea about the work the members of this family put in to make a name for themselves, and certainly had never heard of the "Rothschilds Of The East" as they were often called. Obviously, the author has a lot of first hand information to go with, but the book was exceptionally well researched. To be a book about family dynasties, it was certainly not dry or tedious to read. I wish that I would have gotten to this book sooner. It was a lot of fun learning about all of these people and the influences they had in business and society that can still be seen today.
June 13, 2024
The author is a namesake of one of the Sassoon family members. A distant relation. While the "The Last Kings of Shanghai" described the events of the two dynasties, this book is all about the Sassoon family(Vidal Sassoon is no relation(;)). The rise and the fall of a dynasty. Major part takes place in the then Bombay(now Mumbai). The ups and downs, the pioneer's establishing the business house, the growing distance between the brothers, and the final fall.... All very well narrated..
A good read...
A good read...
October 16, 2022
A fascinating account of a successful Jewish family. I was very interested to hear of their lives in countries that I've never had a chance to visit. This book is an important addition to Jewish history and should be treasured for that. I suspect that it could have been even longer and more detailed, but I appreciate the research that went into this by the author, who had good reason to write this book!
Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. It's an important one.
Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. It's an important one.
November 10, 2022
The Sassoons is far more than hair care product. They are Jewish family that originated from Bagdad that created a world marketing system that brought their family great fortune.
The family mostly traded in opium and cotton during the 1800's. The family followed the Jewish traditions and had a close knit family. As time and traditions changed so did the family, to their detriment. It was exciting to the family rise to great prominence but, very sad to see the demise over time. A very good lesson in history.
The family mostly traded in opium and cotton during the 1800's. The family followed the Jewish traditions and had a close knit family. As time and traditions changed so did the family, to their detriment. It was exciting to the family rise to great prominence but, very sad to see the demise over time. A very good lesson in history.
October 10, 2022
The only Sassoon I have ever been aware of was the maker of hair products, so I thought this would make a very interesting book about the family who seems to have made quite a big splash in the business world in the past. I was rather disappointed then that this was less a biography of a family and more a record of their economic activities.
I still marvelled at how business was carried out in an Internet-less and airplane-less world, and was particularly amazed and appalled at how easy it was to sell opium.
Not quite for me but those interested in the history of world trade, particularly of a Jewish family, would probably find it of value.
3 and a half stars from me.
I still marvelled at how business was carried out in an Internet-less and airplane-less world, and was particularly amazed and appalled at how easy it was to sell opium.
Not quite for me but those interested in the history of world trade, particularly of a Jewish family, would probably find it of value.
3 and a half stars from me.
December 27, 2022
A fascinating book about how wealth rises and falls across generations, set against the backdrop of Victorian-era colonialism through the Opium Wars, World Wars and post-war periods.
January 25, 2023
For a century, from the 1870s to the 1960s, their family name was one of the most recognizable in the world. They were wealthy beyond the limits of imagination, and they married into European royalty and other ultra wealthy families such as the Rothschilds. Their roots lay in ancient Babylon. For the five hundred years from the fourteenth to the nineteenth centuries they were first among the Jewish families of Baghdad. Later, based in India and China, they built a fortune based on trading opium, cotton, and textiles. They dominated global trade in Asia for decades. Historian Joseph Sassoon tells their remarkable story with skill and colorful detail in The Sassoons.
THE AUTHOR’S TENUOUS CONNECTION TO THE FAMILY
The author shares a surname with his subjects but is in fact only distantly related to them. He was born in Baghdad, while the Sassoons who flourished in commerce in Bombay, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and London had long since departed from Iraq. Their last common ancestor was the patriarch of the family in early 19th-century Baghdad, Sheikh Sassoon ben Saleh, father of David Sassoon, the merchant dynasty’s founder. As Joseph Sassoon notes in his introduction, “This book is thus intended to be not a family history but the history of a family.”
A FORTUNE BASED ON OPIUM
The Sassoons is a story of four generations of the family. It might well be called “the rise and fall of the Sassoon empire.” The patriarch, David Sassoon (1792-1864), fled Baghdad in 1830 virtually penniless. He settled in Bombay and there established a trading firm. Success came slowly but steadily until by the 1850s the family had become one of the most prominent in India’s commercial capital. Their philanthropy was legendary. And the increasingly dominant role they played in trading opium yielded an immense fortune. As the author reminds us, “Opium became the world’s most valuable traded commodity in 1860 and remained so for a quarter of a century.” And it was legal everywhere except in China.
David Sassoon had eight sons and six daughters. When he died in 1864 control of the firm passed to his eldest son, Abdallah. But most of Abdallah’s seven brothers worked in the firm as well. While he remained at headquarters in Bombay, his brothers established offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, London, and other, lesser cities. Their wealth and fame grew apace. Firmly allied with the British Empire, the family’s center of gravity steadily shifted to London.
IN FAVOR WITH ROYALTY
Based in the imperial capital, the Sassoons gained favor with British royalty—two of the brothers befriended the Crown Prince and remained close both to him when he reigned as King Edward VII and his son, King George V. And along the way they gathered honors. Abdallah was the first, becoming Sir Albert Sassoon (1818-96), 1st Baronet. Others followed, as the younger generation increasingly shunned business and turned their attention to the pursuits of Britain’s upper crust. Theirs was the world of horse racing, gambling, palatial mansions, and marriages with Continental royalty. Over the years, the family’s fortune gradually shrank, divided among large numbers of sons and daughters and disappearing through their dissolute lifestyles. But business strategy played a role, too. Trading opium became progressively less profitable as the drug was increasingly restricted and later banned in most of the world. But they persisted in the trade long after it was profitable to do so.
TENSIONS BETWEEN BROTHERS LED TO A SPLIT
“Not quite three years after David’s death” in 1864, Joseph Sassoon writes, “simmering tensions between the two eldest brothers [Abdallah and Elias] culminated in a permanent split. From then on, two global businesses, both carrying the family name, would compete head to head.” Although competition spurred both firms to continue to innovate and grow, the distraction it caused became in the end a drag on their vitality. Sir Albert’s Bombay-based company continued to flourish for a time. But his brother Elias, based in Shanghai, gradually gained the advantage. And long after the original company had virtually disappeared, E. D. Sassoon & Co. continued to grow.
Under the direction of Sir Victor Sassoon (1881-1961), a member of the fourth generation, the firm ventured far from the family’s original business trading opium. E. D. Sassoon now invested heavily in Chinese real estate, building a fortune in excess of a billion dollars by the end of World War II. (One billion dollars then would be worth about $16 billion today.) But Sir Victor failed to anticipate the Communist victory and lost most of his fortune to nationalization after 1949.
THE AUTHOR’S UNIQUE RESEARCH ADVANTAGE
In commerce, the Sassoons had a unique competitive advantage: a built-in system of impenetrable code in the language they spoke. It was the Baghdadi Jewish dialect, sometimes now called Judeo-Arabic; it’s written in Hebrew characters. And the author, who shares that language with the family, thus was able to decipher the thousands of surviving letters among the family that have accumulated in historical archives over the years. The result is a detailed and ultimately fascinating picture of global commerce in the 19th century as well as the dynamics of a colorful and important family.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
As his biography on the Georgetown University website notes, “Joseph Sassoon is Professor of History and Political Economy at Georgetown’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies and holds the al-Sabah Chair in Politics and Political Economy of the Arab World. He is also a Senior Associate Member at St Antony’s College, Oxford, where he also completed his PhD. Professor Sassoon, whose research focuses on political economy, economic history, Iraq, Iraqi refugees, and authoritarianism, has published extensively and is the author of five books.”
THE AUTHOR’S TENUOUS CONNECTION TO THE FAMILY
The author shares a surname with his subjects but is in fact only distantly related to them. He was born in Baghdad, while the Sassoons who flourished in commerce in Bombay, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and London had long since departed from Iraq. Their last common ancestor was the patriarch of the family in early 19th-century Baghdad, Sheikh Sassoon ben Saleh, father of David Sassoon, the merchant dynasty’s founder. As Joseph Sassoon notes in his introduction, “This book is thus intended to be not a family history but the history of a family.”
A FORTUNE BASED ON OPIUM
The Sassoons is a story of four generations of the family. It might well be called “the rise and fall of the Sassoon empire.” The patriarch, David Sassoon (1792-1864), fled Baghdad in 1830 virtually penniless. He settled in Bombay and there established a trading firm. Success came slowly but steadily until by the 1850s the family had become one of the most prominent in India’s commercial capital. Their philanthropy was legendary. And the increasingly dominant role they played in trading opium yielded an immense fortune. As the author reminds us, “Opium became the world’s most valuable traded commodity in 1860 and remained so for a quarter of a century.” And it was legal everywhere except in China.
David Sassoon had eight sons and six daughters. When he died in 1864 control of the firm passed to his eldest son, Abdallah. But most of Abdallah’s seven brothers worked in the firm as well. While he remained at headquarters in Bombay, his brothers established offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, London, and other, lesser cities. Their wealth and fame grew apace. Firmly allied with the British Empire, the family’s center of gravity steadily shifted to London.
IN FAVOR WITH ROYALTY
Based in the imperial capital, the Sassoons gained favor with British royalty—two of the brothers befriended the Crown Prince and remained close both to him when he reigned as King Edward VII and his son, King George V. And along the way they gathered honors. Abdallah was the first, becoming Sir Albert Sassoon (1818-96), 1st Baronet. Others followed, as the younger generation increasingly shunned business and turned their attention to the pursuits of Britain’s upper crust. Theirs was the world of horse racing, gambling, palatial mansions, and marriages with Continental royalty. Over the years, the family’s fortune gradually shrank, divided among large numbers of sons and daughters and disappearing through their dissolute lifestyles. But business strategy played a role, too. Trading opium became progressively less profitable as the drug was increasingly restricted and later banned in most of the world. But they persisted in the trade long after it was profitable to do so.
TENSIONS BETWEEN BROTHERS LED TO A SPLIT
“Not quite three years after David’s death” in 1864, Joseph Sassoon writes, “simmering tensions between the two eldest brothers [Abdallah and Elias] culminated in a permanent split. From then on, two global businesses, both carrying the family name, would compete head to head.” Although competition spurred both firms to continue to innovate and grow, the distraction it caused became in the end a drag on their vitality. Sir Albert’s Bombay-based company continued to flourish for a time. But his brother Elias, based in Shanghai, gradually gained the advantage. And long after the original company had virtually disappeared, E. D. Sassoon & Co. continued to grow.
Under the direction of Sir Victor Sassoon (1881-1961), a member of the fourth generation, the firm ventured far from the family’s original business trading opium. E. D. Sassoon now invested heavily in Chinese real estate, building a fortune in excess of a billion dollars by the end of World War II. (One billion dollars then would be worth about $16 billion today.) But Sir Victor failed to anticipate the Communist victory and lost most of his fortune to nationalization after 1949.
THE AUTHOR’S UNIQUE RESEARCH ADVANTAGE
In commerce, the Sassoons had a unique competitive advantage: a built-in system of impenetrable code in the language they spoke. It was the Baghdadi Jewish dialect, sometimes now called Judeo-Arabic; it’s written in Hebrew characters. And the author, who shares that language with the family, thus was able to decipher the thousands of surviving letters among the family that have accumulated in historical archives over the years. The result is a detailed and ultimately fascinating picture of global commerce in the 19th century as well as the dynamics of a colorful and important family.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
As his biography on the Georgetown University website notes, “Joseph Sassoon is Professor of History and Political Economy at Georgetown’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies and holds the al-Sabah Chair in Politics and Political Economy of the Arab World. He is also a Senior Associate Member at St Antony’s College, Oxford, where he also completed his PhD. Professor Sassoon, whose research focuses on political economy, economic history, Iraq, Iraqi refugees, and authoritarianism, has published extensively and is the author of five books.”
March 19, 2025
I really enjoyed this book. It combines two of my greatest loves, business and history. The author tells the story of the rise and decline of the Sassoon empire in relation to the global events that shaped the compan(ies), the shipping and merchandising industry, and the Sassoon family.
So much of business is about how leaders predict and respond to change, whether it’s wars, regime changes, economic cycles, or industrial improvements. For more than a century, generations of Sassoons were a step ahead of their competitors in responding to and predicting change. And then, they weren’t…
So much of business is about how leaders predict and respond to change, whether it’s wars, regime changes, economic cycles, or industrial improvements. For more than a century, generations of Sassoons were a step ahead of their competitors in responding to and predicting change. And then, they weren’t…
February 6, 2023
Lots of individual historical detail. Personal story and historical events detailed one after another. More like reporting rather than writing a story about the family.
March 9, 2023
Sassoons
The author’s ancestors were part of a prominent Jewish family in Baghdad and the first part of this book is an exploration of the fascinating history of politics and intrigue in Baghdad all the way back to the 16th century. Jews were often active in the various governments of the time and as head of the Jewish community, David Sassoon ran into political complications in around 1828 and was forced to flee with his family. They ended up in Bombay where he started a modest trading business, using his affable personality to befriend the locals while his Jewish Baghdadi contacts provided trusted workers. In the trading business trust is the most important asset of a company and Sassoon had that from his large family and many contacts throughout the Jewish/Arab world, but especially in Baghdad. They wrote confidential letters across the company using an arabic dialect written in Hebrew letters which were generally undecipherable to others, thus assuring that business decisions were private and secure.
Gradually, David Sassoon built a trading empire spanning the Far East from Iraq to India and eventually China. His sons were distributed in each business location to keep the family and the business thriving. It was a gradual process, but the result was that David Sassoon & Co. became huge and enormously wealthy.
The middle part of the book gets bogged down in family matters as the second and third generations begin to want to use their wealth to attain status and lose interest in the business, and then, between themselves, began to compete. A second company, E.D. Sassoon was created by a splinter group in the family which also prospered. Documentation from letters and diaries fills in the gaps but it is hard to keep track of the many family members, the different companies and the various locations that had to be covered.
The family business was very dependent on the power of Great Britain, in the middle East, India and China. Sons were sent to London for an education and to run a London office, but the attraction of British aristocracy proved stronger than family ties and even religion in many cases. There were eventually Sassoons in the House of Lords and a Braronetcy.
While part of the family was pursuing fame and leisure in London, the business in the East made a fortune trading in opium. Again, relations with the British government and that government’s domination of India and parts of China secured the opium trade for a long time. It does not seem that the family had any remorse about the effects of opium on the masses of Chinese users even as the matter was discussed in Parliament and the trade finally ended in the 1920’s. Opium was just a commodity and it could be traded like silk or cotton.
In the last third of the book covering the first and second world war period, the history in India, China and japan proved very interesting, though is was not good for business. David Sassoon & Co. moved much of its fortune to buy real estate in China when it looked like fighting and independence would sweep India. That proved to be a mistake when the communist Chinese government took over and nationalized $28 million (worth a half a billion in today’s dollars).
The last active family member in the business moved himself and his assets to the Bahamas where the company ended its dominance of international trade in the 1970’s.
The Sassoon family was for a while one of the richest families in India with significant influence in China and England. The gradual dissolution of family values in the third and fourth generations seems ver typical and not surprising. The family history interacts with a part of world history that my be unfamiliar to most Americans, making for an interesting read.
The author’s ancestors were part of a prominent Jewish family in Baghdad and the first part of this book is an exploration of the fascinating history of politics and intrigue in Baghdad all the way back to the 16th century. Jews were often active in the various governments of the time and as head of the Jewish community, David Sassoon ran into political complications in around 1828 and was forced to flee with his family. They ended up in Bombay where he started a modest trading business, using his affable personality to befriend the locals while his Jewish Baghdadi contacts provided trusted workers. In the trading business trust is the most important asset of a company and Sassoon had that from his large family and many contacts throughout the Jewish/Arab world, but especially in Baghdad. They wrote confidential letters across the company using an arabic dialect written in Hebrew letters which were generally undecipherable to others, thus assuring that business decisions were private and secure.
Gradually, David Sassoon built a trading empire spanning the Far East from Iraq to India and eventually China. His sons were distributed in each business location to keep the family and the business thriving. It was a gradual process, but the result was that David Sassoon & Co. became huge and enormously wealthy.
The middle part of the book gets bogged down in family matters as the second and third generations begin to want to use their wealth to attain status and lose interest in the business, and then, between themselves, began to compete. A second company, E.D. Sassoon was created by a splinter group in the family which also prospered. Documentation from letters and diaries fills in the gaps but it is hard to keep track of the many family members, the different companies and the various locations that had to be covered.
The family business was very dependent on the power of Great Britain, in the middle East, India and China. Sons were sent to London for an education and to run a London office, but the attraction of British aristocracy proved stronger than family ties and even religion in many cases. There were eventually Sassoons in the House of Lords and a Braronetcy.
While part of the family was pursuing fame and leisure in London, the business in the East made a fortune trading in opium. Again, relations with the British government and that government’s domination of India and parts of China secured the opium trade for a long time. It does not seem that the family had any remorse about the effects of opium on the masses of Chinese users even as the matter was discussed in Parliament and the trade finally ended in the 1920’s. Opium was just a commodity and it could be traded like silk or cotton.
In the last third of the book covering the first and second world war period, the history in India, China and japan proved very interesting, though is was not good for business. David Sassoon & Co. moved much of its fortune to buy real estate in China when it looked like fighting and independence would sweep India. That proved to be a mistake when the communist Chinese government took over and nationalized $28 million (worth a half a billion in today’s dollars).
The last active family member in the business moved himself and his assets to the Bahamas where the company ended its dominance of international trade in the 1970’s.
The Sassoon family was for a while one of the richest families in India with significant influence in China and England. The gradual dissolution of family values in the third and fourth generations seems ver typical and not surprising. The family history interacts with a part of world history that my be unfamiliar to most Americans, making for an interesting read.
July 28, 2023
A book that is part biography and part family discovery.
Joseph Sassoon is a professor of history and politics, with a focus on the Arab world, at Georgetown University. He comes from a family of Baghdadi Jews, one of the earliest Jewish diasporic communities. But until recently, he didn’t pay much attention, or indeed know a lot about a particular branch of his family which, in the latter half of the 19th century and early 20th century, became a trading dynasty (or two.)
The Sassoon company was started by David Sassoon in Bombay. He and his father had fled from Iraq, likely due to inhospitality and anti-Jewish sentiment. Sassoon made connections first through the East India Trading Company, and ultimately, often using his sons as emissaries, spread his trading around the Asian world, including China when it was just starting to open up to foreigners.
They started their trade in opium, very lucrative, and ultimately expanded to cotton and textiles. When David died, he’d left an empire for his children. But things began to fray almost immediately when a younger son broke away from the plan (where his older brother was “crowned” head honcho) and started his own brand of the Sassoon company. From then on, there was the David Sassoon Company and the E. D. Sassoon Company.
It took more decades for both companies to completely hit the dust, but the competitive spirit from when they were one entity didn’t work so well for either as they squared off against each other. Also, especially for the Scions of the original company, their priorities started to shift. The East India Company gave way to British colonialism, and some family members began pining for a seat at the aristocratic table. First it was enough to move to London and take place in some culture there, but ultimately some descendants didn’t want to take part in the business at all. They just wanted to hire outsiders and live off the profits.
It's almost like a study in assimilation, just when there’s lots of money involved. :P Especially in the early years the Sassoons ran a tight ship, largely relying on (and marrying into) other members of the Baghdadi Jewish community. As time went on, they dealt with a wider array of Jews, even outside of the Sephardi community (most prominently marrying into the Rothschilds.) But then they started marrying out of the faith, too, and now one of the most well-known scions is Catholic WWI poet Siegfried Sassoon.
Though several Sassoons did stay involved in Jewish charity work, or Jewish religion. For much of their history, the companies closed for Shabbat and holidays. Other members became Hebrew manuscript collectors and rabbis. Especially those connected to Flora Sassoon, both a learned Jew and a pioneer in the business. When her husband died, she was prime to take over leadership of David Sassoon from the Bombay office, which she handled for years. But she was ultimately sabotaged by her male family members who were uncomfortable with answering to a woman. But going by Joseph Sassoon, Flora was one of the last innovative “rulers” of the company. David Sassoon was incorporated shortly after.
This book touches on a lot of historical ground, and also a heavy subplot about the opium trade. Even back in the day, there were arguments about its addictive qualities, but the Sassoons held fast to the narrative that it was “recreational.” Joseph Sassoon took the time to point out the complicated reality, that many groups and nations were benefiting from the opium trade, but his family was definitely a cog in the machine.
Overall I think it was too much, often dry, business information stuffed into a small package. I listened to the audiobook, mostly in one sitting on a long car ride. There was something static, very stop and go, in the audio quality that I’d not heard before. Unsure if it was James Lurie’s narration or his direction.
Still, very intriguing to learn about Jewish dynastic history! And especially the movements of the Sephardic community in the east.
Joseph Sassoon is a professor of history and politics, with a focus on the Arab world, at Georgetown University. He comes from a family of Baghdadi Jews, one of the earliest Jewish diasporic communities. But until recently, he didn’t pay much attention, or indeed know a lot about a particular branch of his family which, in the latter half of the 19th century and early 20th century, became a trading dynasty (or two.)
The Sassoon company was started by David Sassoon in Bombay. He and his father had fled from Iraq, likely due to inhospitality and anti-Jewish sentiment. Sassoon made connections first through the East India Trading Company, and ultimately, often using his sons as emissaries, spread his trading around the Asian world, including China when it was just starting to open up to foreigners.
They started their trade in opium, very lucrative, and ultimately expanded to cotton and textiles. When David died, he’d left an empire for his children. But things began to fray almost immediately when a younger son broke away from the plan (where his older brother was “crowned” head honcho) and started his own brand of the Sassoon company. From then on, there was the David Sassoon Company and the E. D. Sassoon Company.
It took more decades for both companies to completely hit the dust, but the competitive spirit from when they were one entity didn’t work so well for either as they squared off against each other. Also, especially for the Scions of the original company, their priorities started to shift. The East India Company gave way to British colonialism, and some family members began pining for a seat at the aristocratic table. First it was enough to move to London and take place in some culture there, but ultimately some descendants didn’t want to take part in the business at all. They just wanted to hire outsiders and live off the profits.
It's almost like a study in assimilation, just when there’s lots of money involved. :P Especially in the early years the Sassoons ran a tight ship, largely relying on (and marrying into) other members of the Baghdadi Jewish community. As time went on, they dealt with a wider array of Jews, even outside of the Sephardi community (most prominently marrying into the Rothschilds.) But then they started marrying out of the faith, too, and now one of the most well-known scions is Catholic WWI poet Siegfried Sassoon.
Though several Sassoons did stay involved in Jewish charity work, or Jewish religion. For much of their history, the companies closed for Shabbat and holidays. Other members became Hebrew manuscript collectors and rabbis. Especially those connected to Flora Sassoon, both a learned Jew and a pioneer in the business. When her husband died, she was prime to take over leadership of David Sassoon from the Bombay office, which she handled for years. But she was ultimately sabotaged by her male family members who were uncomfortable with answering to a woman. But going by Joseph Sassoon, Flora was one of the last innovative “rulers” of the company. David Sassoon was incorporated shortly after.
This book touches on a lot of historical ground, and also a heavy subplot about the opium trade. Even back in the day, there were arguments about its addictive qualities, but the Sassoons held fast to the narrative that it was “recreational.” Joseph Sassoon took the time to point out the complicated reality, that many groups and nations were benefiting from the opium trade, but his family was definitely a cog in the machine.
Overall I think it was too much, often dry, business information stuffed into a small package. I listened to the audiobook, mostly in one sitting on a long car ride. There was something static, very stop and go, in the audio quality that I’d not heard before. Unsure if it was James Lurie’s narration or his direction.
Still, very intriguing to learn about Jewish dynastic history! And especially the movements of the Sephardic community in the east.
December 10, 2025
In my recent efforts to read more diversely and seek out literature from outside the typical US/UK/Europe setting, I came across this book. Before reading this, the only Sassoon I had ever heard of was Vidal Sassoon (not related to these Sassoons). But when I mentioned it to my mother, she was familiar with the family name.
The Sassoon family were residents of Baghdad, Iraq, and were pushed out of Iraq in the 1800s due to increasing antisemitism. They made their way to Bombay (I know it is spelled Mumbai now, but due to the historical nature of the book, the author chose to keep it spelled as Bombay), and were part of a Jewish community known as Baghdadi Jews, who fled to India from Iraq. Clearly, the Baghdadi Jews maintained a separate identity from other groups of Indian Jews, but found a safe place to flourish in Bombay.
Starting with the patriarch establishing a business in India that focused on trade, and expanding out into banking and finance institutions that earned this family the nickname "The Rothschilds of the East." He brought his sons into the business, and ensured that all family members were well taken care of, lasting for generations into the future.
I appreciated the author's candor. He mentions that he is a member of this family, but only distantly, and directly confronts the family's role in the opium trade, which they were a major facilitator of, even playing a role in the British-Chinese Opium Wars.
The founder of this family dynasty showed a huge amount of foresight and the ability to predict local and global markets. He took advantage of opportunities that were available to him, and built an empire, despite being forced to start over as a refugee in a place they didn't know. I was especially impressed by the amount of languages the family members spoke regularly, including Hebrew, Arabic, French, a diasporic language known as Judeo-Arabic, English, and plenty of others.
I was fascinated early in the read, but eventually got mixed up with all of the different family members, since I listened to this as an audiobook and didn't have access to the family tree that is included with the book. The narrator was a bit dry, but so was the material, especially towards the end of the book. It is always intriguing to learn about the practices of different Jewish groups, and the only exposure to Baghdadi Jews I've had is on social media featuring recipes, but let me tell you, they always sound so tasty, that it was a bonus to learn more about this diasporic Jewish group, and I really liked how it was all laid out. Overall, I felt like I walked away from this read knowing more than I did before, yet somehow even more intrigued to learn more.
AM YISRAEL CHAI!
The Sassoon family were residents of Baghdad, Iraq, and were pushed out of Iraq in the 1800s due to increasing antisemitism. They made their way to Bombay (I know it is spelled Mumbai now, but due to the historical nature of the book, the author chose to keep it spelled as Bombay), and were part of a Jewish community known as Baghdadi Jews, who fled to India from Iraq. Clearly, the Baghdadi Jews maintained a separate identity from other groups of Indian Jews, but found a safe place to flourish in Bombay.
Starting with the patriarch establishing a business in India that focused on trade, and expanding out into banking and finance institutions that earned this family the nickname "The Rothschilds of the East." He brought his sons into the business, and ensured that all family members were well taken care of, lasting for generations into the future.
I appreciated the author's candor. He mentions that he is a member of this family, but only distantly, and directly confronts the family's role in the opium trade, which they were a major facilitator of, even playing a role in the British-Chinese Opium Wars.
The founder of this family dynasty showed a huge amount of foresight and the ability to predict local and global markets. He took advantage of opportunities that were available to him, and built an empire, despite being forced to start over as a refugee in a place they didn't know. I was especially impressed by the amount of languages the family members spoke regularly, including Hebrew, Arabic, French, a diasporic language known as Judeo-Arabic, English, and plenty of others.
I was fascinated early in the read, but eventually got mixed up with all of the different family members, since I listened to this as an audiobook and didn't have access to the family tree that is included with the book. The narrator was a bit dry, but so was the material, especially towards the end of the book. It is always intriguing to learn about the practices of different Jewish groups, and the only exposure to Baghdadi Jews I've had is on social media featuring recipes, but let me tell you, they always sound so tasty, that it was a bonus to learn more about this diasporic Jewish group, and I really liked how it was all laid out. Overall, I felt like I walked away from this read knowing more than I did before, yet somehow even more intrigued to learn more.
AM YISRAEL CHAI!
March 3, 2023
This is a history of the Sassoon family, a Baghdadi Jewish trading family and their related firms that originated in Baghdad under the Sultan in the early 19th century but then moved operations to Bombay and Shanghai and after the Sepoy Rebellion, came to be firmly established in India. The Sasoons soon became dominant in the opium trade with China, as well as in a variety of textile and other industries, with firm leadership becoming established in London and associated with the global dominance of the British Empire in the Victorian era of free trade and colonialism. The Jewish family and religious traditions were initially strongly maintained within the firm and the strength of the family’s global network stemmed from the care given to maintaining family connections and growing the firm’s capital as new opportunities arose. The strength of the family business lines by the end of the 19th century also stemmed from close alliance if British Imperial interests and family members participated actively in Indian and English society and political life. This led to some very strong business lines that were originally highly profitable but that later deteriorated as political and social norms shifted, in particular the opium trade with China.
The author is a distant member of the family who appears to have been granted considerable access to family records. The book is well written and seems thorough. The parallel work that comes to mind is Niall Ferguson’s two volume history of the Rothschilds.
The rise of the family was meteoric and the book is filled with details about the Empire in India and the opium trade, it was also clear, however, that the family trajectory in the twentieth century would be much rockier and the last remnants of the firm disappeared quite a while ago. Part of this rapid decline could be anticipated, given the linkages with India, China, and the opium business in a twentieth century with two world wars, the Chinese revolution, and massive decolonization. There was more to it than that, however. There were some questionable choices about when to wrap up business lines and whether China or India were better locations to continue. The history also provides a good illustration of the difficulties that large family businesses around the world have faced in maintaining control and organizational dynamism past the first two or perhaps three generations of family members running operations. The Rothchilds were really effective at maintaining the family structure of the business. The Sassoons were not as effective. This account is also exciting for the details it provides on the evolution of large businesses in India and China prior to the World Wars.
The author is a distant member of the family who appears to have been granted considerable access to family records. The book is well written and seems thorough. The parallel work that comes to mind is Niall Ferguson’s two volume history of the Rothschilds.
The rise of the family was meteoric and the book is filled with details about the Empire in India and the opium trade, it was also clear, however, that the family trajectory in the twentieth century would be much rockier and the last remnants of the firm disappeared quite a while ago. Part of this rapid decline could be anticipated, given the linkages with India, China, and the opium business in a twentieth century with two world wars, the Chinese revolution, and massive decolonization. There was more to it than that, however. There were some questionable choices about when to wrap up business lines and whether China or India were better locations to continue. The history also provides a good illustration of the difficulties that large family businesses around the world have faced in maintaining control and organizational dynamism past the first two or perhaps three generations of family members running operations. The Rothchilds were really effective at maintaining the family structure of the business. The Sassoons were not as effective. This account is also exciting for the details it provides on the evolution of large businesses in India and China prior to the World Wars.
October 23, 2022
The Sassoons : The Great Global Merchants and the Making of an Empire by Joseph Sassoon
I found this an interesting but difficult book to follow. I don’t believe this is completely the fault of the author. The Sassoon family was large with many children ( up to 15 I believe) with little creativity in names so it became difficult to remember which “David” was witch. This is a story of a Baghdadi Jewish family that sought to make money and first moved to India. There first major business opportunity was opium which makes them not a family to be loved in my mind. They also move into cotton and then the manufacture of fabrics from the cotton with mills in India. What was an interesting part of the book was the price of cotton fluctuated due to the Civil War in America. Most of their money was made as merchant traders and as a result this meant being very astute or lucking in forecast currency swings as well as over or under supply of say opium. An interesting point made by the author was during the 1860’s the Sassoons were a global business but communication links were still very slow. Thus, getting correct and trusted information as quickly as possible was a benefit to profit and the Sassoons large family scattered all over the Middle East, India and China was a significant advantage. However just as Thomas Piketty has mentioned in his books the 3rd generation in wealth tends to lose it. This is certainly the case here as many of the branches of the family chose to buy property in the UK attempt to become “English” and lived off the profits without assisting in the growth of the company. Combine this with opium being banned, WW II and the loss of their property in Shanghai and the independence of India and the company slowly died. Today there are still Sassoons as is the author but no company and most of the wealth is gone. I am glad I read the book but I must let you know this is not a family to love in part of their business and in part to so many characters over nearly 200 years.
I found this an interesting but difficult book to follow. I don’t believe this is completely the fault of the author. The Sassoon family was large with many children ( up to 15 I believe) with little creativity in names so it became difficult to remember which “David” was witch. This is a story of a Baghdadi Jewish family that sought to make money and first moved to India. There first major business opportunity was opium which makes them not a family to be loved in my mind. They also move into cotton and then the manufacture of fabrics from the cotton with mills in India. What was an interesting part of the book was the price of cotton fluctuated due to the Civil War in America. Most of their money was made as merchant traders and as a result this meant being very astute or lucking in forecast currency swings as well as over or under supply of say opium. An interesting point made by the author was during the 1860’s the Sassoons were a global business but communication links were still very slow. Thus, getting correct and trusted information as quickly as possible was a benefit to profit and the Sassoons large family scattered all over the Middle East, India and China was a significant advantage. However just as Thomas Piketty has mentioned in his books the 3rd generation in wealth tends to lose it. This is certainly the case here as many of the branches of the family chose to buy property in the UK attempt to become “English” and lived off the profits without assisting in the growth of the company. Combine this with opium being banned, WW II and the loss of their property in Shanghai and the independence of India and the company slowly died. Today there are still Sassoons as is the author but no company and most of the wealth is gone. I am glad I read the book but I must let you know this is not a family to love in part of their business and in part to so many characters over nearly 200 years.
December 15, 2022
When researching a prominent family’s history, what particular aspects of their lives should a historian explore? That depends, of course, on a researcher/writer’s particular interest, although in the past that focus was often limited. For example, politics and warfare, rather than everyday life, were generally thought to be a historian’s purview. This was particularly true when dealing with business dynasties. What made them interesting was how they obtained and held or lost their fortunes. In contemporary times, some historians, though, have focused on other aspects of the families’ lives, for example, what we can learn from those members (usually meaning women) who were not involved in the business.
There is no one correct way to approach history: in fact, some historians blend both approaches in their works because there is often overlap. It can be difficult to understand a person’s motivation without considering the funds available to them, just as it can be necessary to understand the personal considerations of someone making a business deal. Two recent books focus on different aspects of two wealthy Jewish families: “The Women of Rothschild: The Untold Story of the World’s Most Famous Dynasty” by Natalie Livingstone (St. Martin’s Press) explores the usually ignored female members of the family, while Joseph Sassoon’s “The Sassoons: The Great Merchants and the Making of an Empire” (Pantheon Books) details the rise and fall of the Sassoons’ business empire.
To see the rest of my review, visit https://www.thereportergroup.org/past...
There is no one correct way to approach history: in fact, some historians blend both approaches in their works because there is often overlap. It can be difficult to understand a person’s motivation without considering the funds available to them, just as it can be necessary to understand the personal considerations of someone making a business deal. Two recent books focus on different aspects of two wealthy Jewish families: “The Women of Rothschild: The Untold Story of the World’s Most Famous Dynasty” by Natalie Livingstone (St. Martin’s Press) explores the usually ignored female members of the family, while Joseph Sassoon’s “The Sassoons: The Great Merchants and the Making of an Empire” (Pantheon Books) details the rise and fall of the Sassoons’ business empire.
To see the rest of my review, visit https://www.thereportergroup.org/past...
December 10, 2022
At bottom this is the familiar story of rags to riches to rags in 3 generations. David Sassoon was an Iraqi Jew from Baghdad. He was forced to flee Iraq and he moved to Bombay where he built a huge international trading operation, mainly with opium from the Middle East that he traded to China and cotton. Opium, at this time, was legal and traded all over the world. Fantastic wealth was achieved with the family spread from London to Bombay to China and everywhere in between. As time went on, the offspring moved to London and became landed gentry and forgot how to conduct business and the money and influence disappeared. The opium trade was eliminated. One of the final nails in the coffin came when China became communist and expropriated all of their property. Fantastic amounts of wealth disappeared overnight. Also when India was a British territory, the Sassoons did very well. When India independence became possible, one of the Sassoons, Victor, decided to headquarter their business in China which obviously turned out disastrously. They built libraries, hospitals, and synagogues mostly in India. Most of these structures still exist like the David Sasson library and reading room and Magen David Synagogue in Bombay. Also the Cathay Hotel in Shanghai on the Bund where you can stay in the Presidential Sassoon suite. The Sassoons were very interested in charity and in supporting the Baghdadi Jewish community which is no more. For a interesting slice of really unknown Jewish history, this is an excellent read.
December 26, 2022
(4.5 stars rounded up to 5)
This was an extremely well researched book in to the rise and fall of the Sasoon dynasty and how they were impacted and helped shape the tumultuous times they lived in. These included globalisation, the opium wars, the rise and fall of the British empire, in particular India, globalisation, industrial and technological revolutions world War 1, the Great recession, Japanese imperialism, world war 2 and the Post 1945 world.
What is great is despite writing and blending these events throughout the book, Joseph Sassoon never loses the human touch, writing about family, including marriage, divorce, children, family break ups, love, greed and much more.
The book isn't perfect, some chapters I found merely average and a bit dense even when talking about economics and trade or losing my interest a bit in events which I thought weren't as interesting as the reader found it.
Nonetheless despite not being flawless this was still a very well written and researched book. The author clearly had an interest and curious nature when it came to the Sassoons and this helps the reader be transported in to their worlds and times.
I'm interested in how great families helped shape their world and how their fortunes fluctuated or fell and the reasons for this. This book sated my curiosity and I would highly recommend it.
This was an extremely well researched book in to the rise and fall of the Sasoon dynasty and how they were impacted and helped shape the tumultuous times they lived in. These included globalisation, the opium wars, the rise and fall of the British empire, in particular India, globalisation, industrial and technological revolutions world War 1, the Great recession, Japanese imperialism, world war 2 and the Post 1945 world.
What is great is despite writing and blending these events throughout the book, Joseph Sassoon never loses the human touch, writing about family, including marriage, divorce, children, family break ups, love, greed and much more.
The book isn't perfect, some chapters I found merely average and a bit dense even when talking about economics and trade or losing my interest a bit in events which I thought weren't as interesting as the reader found it.
Nonetheless despite not being flawless this was still a very well written and researched book. The author clearly had an interest and curious nature when it came to the Sassoons and this helps the reader be transported in to their worlds and times.
I'm interested in how great families helped shape their world and how their fortunes fluctuated or fell and the reasons for this. This book sated my curiosity and I would highly recommend it.
July 16, 2024
The only Sassoon I had heard of before reading this book was the famous British hairdresser Vidal Sassoon, no relation to the family portrayed here. The Sassoons of this book were Jewish merchants who originated in Baghdad, and after being forced from there for religious reasons in the early 19th century, after hundreds of years of residence, turned their enterprising trading business into an immensely successful operation in India, China, and England.
The book explores their commodities exchange business in opium (which sounds so sinister now), cotton, pearls, and other items, and the key players in the family – their successes, and the eventual downfall of their enterprise.
The history of the Sassoons in Bombay (now known as Mumbai) India and Shanghai is particularly intriguing. When the later generations moved away from operating the business in favor of other interests, and became caught up in English society, their dynasty faltered.
The book explores their commodities exchange business in opium (which sounds so sinister now), cotton, pearls, and other items, and the key players in the family – their successes, and the eventual downfall of their enterprise.
The history of the Sassoons in Bombay (now known as Mumbai) India and Shanghai is particularly intriguing. When the later generations moved away from operating the business in favor of other interests, and became caught up in English society, their dynasty faltered.
February 23, 2024
Actually this is 3 1/2 star book. It is a somewhat interesting look at a family trading business that goes from shirtsleeves to shirt-sleeves in four generations. Mr. Sassoon does an excellent job of detailing the growth, success, and social sides of the family. He presents the history with the 'bark on', and while he does have his favorites, it is a balanced, nuanced presentation. He documents their rise to power as being based on textiles and opium. The latter becomes the thread of their rise and demise. Their work in China provides a look at the opium wars, Tai-ping rebellion and the Boxers from the trading viewpoint. The family's downfall is credited to their desire to become a part of English society, which they do. The results included the downturn of the company and the loss of the income stream that they relied on. Meh!
March 5, 2023
It will be quite some time before Netflix decides to make a multi-episode series of the Sassoon's history as this is not a book with salacious gossip about the uber-rich and their connections. It is instead a painstakingly researched economic history of how one Eastern Jewish family dominated key channels of trade in India, Eastern Asia and many other outposts for more than a hundred years, then fell away as the family fractured into different international factions. There is some fascinating stuff about their assimilation into different elites as society leaders, cultural aggregators, political influencers - culminating in Siegfried Sassoon's poetry and much later, Vidal Sassoon's hair products empire. A slog of a read but worth the time investment.
March 9, 2023
I enjoyed myself tremendously learning the ways of the Sassoons and how the came up and squadnered it all
What my 👂 heard below 👇
Does it feel like the n***** the Jew and the Bengali in you are all jockeying for position
av·a·ri·cious
I've enjoyed myself enormously
He's adept at playing his cards close to his chest
My knowledge of Arabic has been of great use to me
His generosity is not without it's benefits
Air your festering grievances
The work is arduous
I no longer have the strength to hear such claims
Your tone is increasingly turser what are you plotting?
He's been known to be serious and industrious
Boundless greed
I had to wash my hands of you
Ha snide remarks
We are not this is not a union of equivalence
He could be coldly evaluative
What my 👂 heard below 👇
Does it feel like the n***** the Jew and the Bengali in you are all jockeying for position
av·a·ri·cious
I've enjoyed myself enormously
He's adept at playing his cards close to his chest
My knowledge of Arabic has been of great use to me
His generosity is not without it's benefits
Air your festering grievances
The work is arduous
I no longer have the strength to hear such claims
Your tone is increasingly turser what are you plotting?
He's been known to be serious and industrious
Boundless greed
I had to wash my hands of you
Ha snide remarks
We are not this is not a union of equivalence
He could be coldly evaluative
March 31, 2025
It's not every day that a book opens my eyes to a world that I didn't know existed. But the Sassoon family's rise from as Baghdadi jews in exile to wealthy merchants in Mumbai (then Bombay) and finally fraternizing with the English royal family is nothing short of astonishing. And there are so many fascinating details like with how many kids they were having, how they raised them, what it was like to be legal drug dealers, the value of vertical integration, succession drama, what happened when a woman took over the business, how they fell in the end, etc.
I gave it three stars because it's a history and can be dry but honestly it's pretty cool and I'd highly recommend at least reading the relevant wikipedia articles about this unique family.
I gave it three stars because it's a history and can be dry but honestly it's pretty cool and I'd highly recommend at least reading the relevant wikipedia articles about this unique family.
February 13, 2023
A fascinating account of a Baghdadi Jewish family who immigrated to India and established one of the most successful and highly profitable companies of the 19th and 20th centuries, based first on the India-to-China opium trade and then textiles. With operations from Japan to Great Britain, it was one of the first global companies emerging from the enormous economic changes set in motion by the Industrial Revolution. The author--a distant relative of the founding family member--also chronicles the company's and the family's financial decline following World War II as the world economy underwent further changes.
February 18, 2023
A very readable history that combines research about the Sassoon business empire with vignettes about the various family members. In the afterward m Joseph Sassoon, the author, analyzes why the Sassoon empire withered and disappeared. He does an incisive job on contrasting the business acumen of the 19th century family members with the social acumen of the Anglicized family of the 20th century. Whether this family dynasty could have made different choices during the tumultuous events of the first half of the 20th century is a matter of our hindsight at what happened during the World Wars and the drive for independence in India and in China.
July 14, 2024
This was a solid book. The afterword was the best part, and I was sort of waiting the entire book for the author to lay out his own thoughts as he did at the end. It is a fascinating story, , as well as a tragic example of what happens when a family fails to impart its values on the next generation. One thing I was waiting for throughout the book was for the author to go more in depth into the costs of the opium trade, and although he touches on it a few times, I felt he could have gone into it with a bit more detail. The writing was ok, but I wasn't really expecting David McCullough. 3.5 rounded up.
December 8, 2022
A well written, well researched and unbiased book by a distant Sassoon cousin about one of the great Jewish merchant families and how they successfully emerged from the Middle East to challenge the great Scottish merchants in the opium and tea trade in India and China as well as their ultimate fall due to a combination of an inability to innovate and diversify beyond opium and Chinese real estate as well as the “shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves” effects of great wealth on successive generations of the family.
March 19, 2023
Fascinating sweep of history tracing the arc of one branch of the Sassoon family-- multigenerational in scope-- true global merchants crossing middle East, India and East Asia. The author (who is from the branch of the Sassoon family that did not self-exile to India) was well suited to the task of rebuilding the story from original source materials found buried in Israeli archives. My one disappointment was historical inaccuracies pertaining to the last chapters of the book addressing Victor Sassoon's time in China.
September 10, 2023
Read this after seeing an exhibit on the art collections of The Sassoons at The Jewish Museum in NYC. The exhibit was so stunning that I wanted to know more about this dynasty. And being a history buff I'm always fascinated with the connection between commerce and art and outsiders moving in high social circles. I found some of the writing to be a bit pedantic, but I got what I came for....a deep understanding of this family - their rise and fall over the span of approximately 130 years and their influence on the world. Really fascinating from a historical and human point of view.
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