Titan

Reviews

“A triumph of research, understanding, and elegant writing.”

“[No biographer] has been as skilled, or as exhaustive, as Ron Chernow.”

“It is hard to imagine a better biography of Rockefeller being written…An enthralling biography of an enthralling person.”

“With uncanny timing, Ron Chernow has written a captivating biography of one of the most famous men in American business history…Business needs more books like Titan.”

“A scrupulously balanced, frequently fascinating, and humanizing portrait of a figure of seemingly superhuman energy and ambition.”

“One of the great American biographies.”

“A biography that has many of the best attributes of a novel…Wonderfully fluent and compelling.”

“Sweeping…Chernow lays out the [Rockefeller] conundrum superbly, delineating the forces that shaped this man and the ways he responded to them.”

“Splendid…A blue-chip biography.”

“Chernow has written the definitive biographies of two other legendary financial dynasties…Now, with his Rockefeller biography, he has completed an extraordinary trilogy about the towering figures of twentieth-century commerce.”

“You can read this book as a sympathetic portrait of a complex man, a business history, a legal battle, or simply as a great yarn.”

“Stunning…Mr. Chernow has confirmed his reputation as a great business historian.”

“Ron Chernow’s portrait of Rockefeller, an eccentric on a heroic scale as well as a genius, is convincing…This is the best biography of the man so far.”

“A monumental and mesmerizing biography…A fascinating yarn, capturing a man who insisted he could serve God and Mammon.”

“Good biographies are hard to find and great ones even rarer…A thoughtful and balanced approach to one of the most significant and controversial lives of the past century…Spellbinding.”

“By the time Chernow is finished, the old guy seems utterly human…and oddly appealing…A timeless parable of our civilization.”

“A worthy biography of a truly titanic figure.”

“What a story! An outstanding business biography.”

“A masterful synthesis of research and writing…An extraordinary achievement in biography.”

“Chernow, biographer of the Warburgs and the Morgans, has his finest subject in Rockefeller, and is able to furnish anecdotes galore from his encyclopedic research in the family archives…Rather than the cunning, churchgoing hypocrite of legend who spent his Sundays piously but weekdays wrecking his rivals, Rockefeller emerges in Chernow’s elegantly told biography as an enterprising monopolist who ‘regarded God as an ally, a sort of honorary shareholder of Standard Oil.’” 

“Most people think of the founder of Standard Oil as a cold, heartless capitalist who cared for nothing but money and destroying the competition. This biography acknowledges Rockefeller’s dark side but also tries to show him as a man whose generosity still shapes our world. Narrator Grover Gardner’s deep, resonant voice is a wonderful accompaniment to the story of this Gilded Age robber baron. Gardner’s tone and inflection bring to mind the mahogany-paneled clubs that were the refuges of the nineteenth-century corporate elite, and he especially excels when reading quotes from the leaders who lived during that era. It’s an elite performance without a hint of elitism, and, as Rockefeller himself surely would say, merits the investment in time and money.”

“The archetypal American institution-builder—in industry, philanthropy, and the family dynasty bearing his name—is etched with uncommon objectivity and literary grace by National Book Award–winning business historian Chernow…Business biography on a grand scale.”

Expand reviews