John Jacob Astor by Axel Madsen (2001, Hardcover, Illustrated)

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

Industry Reviews
Fur trader, slumlord, war profiteer, opium dealer, liquor salesman. That's the rap on the first of America's legendary business titans, John Jacob Astor. <BR> The biography, <I>John Jacob Astor: America's First Multimillionaire</I> by Axel Madsen, records how in 1784, he arrived in America after an unusually long crossing of the Atlantic: He was at sea for 4 months. He was 20 years old with $25 in his pocket. At the time of his death, a few months shy of his 85th birthday, he was worth upward of $20 million and was the richest man in the USA. <BR> According to Axel Madsen (who has written 15 biographies on famous figures, such as Joe Kennedy and Gloria Swanson), Astor embodied the American Dream <BR> His desire to reinvent himself propelled him to levels of financial success few could attain. <BR> By all historical accounts (the vast majority supplied by the New York Public Library archives), Astor was ruthless and stingy, but he had a flair for business. Sounds like a viable strategy. <BR> And he had an uncanny ability for high-tailing it out of a business before it went bust. <BR> A poor German immigrant, Astor made his way to New York and rapidly stamped his mark on an economy that was taking off. <BR> He seemingly glided from the fur trade, bolstered by selling liquor to the Indians, to shipping opium to China, to Manhattan real estate (his greatest coup). He is described as a slum lord. Fairly unsavory stuff, but worth a fortune. <BR> Money was his passion, and that's all that mattered to him. He understood the impermanence of success and understood the volatility of the markets and how to anticipate change. Worthy instincts, even today. <BR> The fascinating thing about Astor is that, regardless of how one feels about his business practices, he was one of the first businessmen to imagine the world as a global economy. He went for it with gusto. <BR> To get a snapshot of how rich he was in his heyday, the author gives us this fine example: <BR> In 1844, the average New Yorker earned $1 a week. That year, Astor gave his granddaughter Laura a wedding gift of $250,000, conservatively worth $50 million today. <BR> The author reveals that it was really his wife, Sarah Todd, who came with a $300 dowry and a free place to live with her family, who started him on his financial way. <BR> Her wealth allowed him to quit hawking bread on the streets of lower Manhattan, his first job in this country. <BR> His work schedule is admirable, given the hours many of today's workers put in. <BR> He would have breakfast at 9a.m., leave the office at 2 in the afternoon, have dinner at 3, then savor a glass of beer and three games of checkers each evening, according to Madsen. <BR> Astor offers a historical insight into a vibrant, growing American economy, as well as a glimpse of a man who made the most of his time here. <BR> The fault is the inability to tap into the real heart of what propelled this man to such great heights. We learn of his business practices but little about his inner motivation and soul. <BR> We know that after money was no object, he spent much time traipsing around Europe from court to court, trying to marry his favorite daughter off to royalty. <BR> But more of his business acumen would have been worth noting beyond the notion that he was merciless and aggressive. How so? <BR> The author assures us that part of that problem was that none of Astor's children or <BR> siblings ever published an anecdote that might throw light on his character. <BR> Too bad. <BR> --<I>USA Today</I> <P> Expertly situating his subject's accomplishments in the context of late 18th- and early 19th-century commercial and geopolitical expansion, Madsen (Chanel; Gloria and Joe) weighs in with an absorbing biography of one of 19th-century America's most powerful men. Having immigrated to the U.S. from Germany in 1783, Astor was on friendly terms with such prominent figures as Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Albert Gallatin by the time he ...