
Titan
The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Buy for $25.76
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Grover Gardner
-
By:
-
Ron Chernow
John D. Rockefeller, Sr., history’s first billionaire and the patriarch of America’s most famous dynasty, is an icon whose true nature has eluded three generations of historians. Now Ron Chernow, a National Book Award-winning biographer, gives us a detailed and insightful history of the mogul. Titan is the first full-length biography based on unrestricted access to Rockefeller’s exceptionally rich trove of papers. A landmark publication full of startling revelations, the book indelibly alters our image of this most enigmatic capitalist.
Born the son of a flamboyant, bigamous snake-oil salesman and a pious, straitlaced mother, Rockefeller rose from rustic origins to become the world’s richest man by creating America’s most powerful and feared monopoly, Standard Oil. Branded "the Octopus" by legions of muckrakers, the trust refined and marketed nearly 90 percent of the oil produced in America.
Rockefeller was likely the most controversial businessman in our nation’s history. Critics charged that his empire was built on unscrupulous tactics: grand-scale collusion with the railroads, predatory pricing, industrial espionage, and wholesale bribery of political officials. The titan spent more than 30 years dodging investigations until Teddy Roosevelt and his trustbusters embarked on a marathon crusade to bring Standard Oil to bay.
While providing abundant evidence of Rockefeller’s misdeeds, Chernow discards the stereotype of the cold-blooded monster to sketch an unforgettably human portrait of a quirky, eccentric original. A devout Baptist and temperance advocate, Rockefeller gave money more generously than anyone before him - his chosen philanthropies included the Rockefeller Foundation, the University of Chicago, and what is today Rockefeller University. Titan presents a finely nuanced portrait of a fascinating, complex man, synthesizing his public and private lives and disclosing numerous family scandals, tragedies, and misfortunes that have never before come to light.
John D. Rockefeller’s story captures a pivotal moment in American history, documenting the dramatic post–Civil War shift from small business to the rise of giant corporations that irrevocably transformed the nation. With cameos by Joseph Pulitzer, William Randolph Hearst, Jay Gould, William Vanderbilt, Ida Tarbell, Andrew Carnegie, Carl Jung, J. P. Morgan, William James, Henry Clay Frick, Mark Twain, and Will Rogers, Titan turns Rockefeller’s life into a vivid tapestry of American society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is Ron Chernow’s signal triumph that he writes this monumental saga with all the sweep, drama, and insight that this giant subject deserves.
©2004 Ron Chernow (P)2013 Blackstone AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















People who viewed this also viewed...


















Magnificent
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
An Enthralling Read
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Many mid pronounced words.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Amazing "titan" is industry
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
So interesting, I read it twice!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
profoundly interesting and the best narration
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great book! Many great lessons learned.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Any additional comments?
Not sure how you make a biography this long interesting but the author really did. This was the perfect amount of detail and back story.I would recommend this to anyone interested in Biography's or Tycoons from previous century.
Also interesting how many practices he put in place we outlawed after he did them.
Great book!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
At first I thought the narrator Grover Gardner would be too dry, being familiar with other narrations of his, but he was a great fit for the story—blending into the background as he brought the characters to life.
I need audiobooks that will help me escape my long commutes and for that (and other listening situations) I highly recommend this book.
What a fascinating story!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Amazing
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.