About this ebook
“This slim, charming volume is actually a biographical essay, yet it succeeds in snatching its elusive subject from oblivion.” — Ron Chernow, The New York Times
“This is a fascinating story.” — The New York Review of Books
“A memorable first biography of a near-mythical founding father.” — Publishers Weekly
“A thoroughly researched, fascinating, and altogether exemplary biography.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Amos Elon’s portrait of the man who fathered a dynasty makes fascinating reading for anyone even mildly interested in money and power and their effects on history. Founder is a rich and colorful examination of [Meyer Amschel Rothschild]” — Morley Safer
“Elon’s book... is a thoroughly researched and absorbing biography.” — St. Louis Jewish Light
“A biography that’s a must read for today’s entrepreneurs.” — Houston Chronicle
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About the author
Amos Elon (1926-2009) was one of Israel’s leading public intellectuals. Born in Vienna, he emigrated to Palestine with his family in 1933. He studied law, literature, and history at Tel Aviv University, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and Cambridge.
A secular Jew, he fought in Israel’s War of Independence in 1948 and later became a journalist. He began writing for Ha’aretz in 1954, and subsequently served as the newspaper’s Washington correspondent, European bureau chief, senior editor and columnist.
His eleven books include Founder: A Portrait of the First Rothschild and His Time, The Israelis: Founders and Sons and Herzl. A persistent and prescient voice for negotiation between Arabs and Jews. In 2004, he moved to Tuscany. He wrote frequently for English-language publications including Encounter, The New Republic, The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker and The New York Review of Books.
