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Our Crowd: The Great Jewish Families of New York (Modern Jewish History) Paperback – October 1, 1996

by Stephen Birmingham (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 664 ratings
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Telling the story of a group of families from emigration from Germany in the 19th century to their rise to power in the financial markets of New York in the 20th century, this text weaves together social and financial history with a portrait of these powerful and influential Jewish families.
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  1. Part of series
    Modern Jewish History
  2. Print length
    416 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Syracuse University Press
  5. Publication date
    October 1, 1996
  6. Dimensions
    6 x 0.7 x 9 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0815604114
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0815604112
  9. See all details
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The Rest of Us: The Rise of America’s Eastern European Jews (Modern Jewish History)
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  1. “To sell something you have to someone who wants it—that is not business. But to sell something you don’t have to someone who doesn’t want it—that is business!”
    Highlighted by 99 Kindle readers
  2. In the unwritten hierarchy of world Jewry, the Sephardim are considered, and consider themselves, the most noble of all Jews because, as a culture, they claim the longest unbroken history of unity and suffering.
    Highlighted by 88 Kindle readers
  3. For many years Wall Street firms such as these obeyed a kind of Salic law, with partnerships descending only to sons and sons-in-law. This discouraged outsiders and encouraged intermarriage.
    Highlighted by 58 Kindle readers
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Syracuse University Press; New edition (October 1, 1996)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0815604114
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0815604112
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.25 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.7 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 664 ratings

About the authors

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  1. Carey Birmingham

    Carey Birmingham

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    Stephen Birmingham was born in 1929 in Hartford, CT and graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts in 1950.

    Mr. Birmingham was perhaps most noted for his worldwide best seller Our Crowd, published in 1967. The book, which has the subtitle A History of the Great Jewish Families of New York took over 18 months to research and write and, after publication, almost single-handedly created the literary genre of social histories. Our Crowd broke numerous records at its publication for, among other things, length of time on the NY Times Best Seller List, and confirmed Mr. Birmingham’s preeminence in the social history genre. Subsequently, he wrote several other books in the genre, including The Right People: A Portrait of the American Social Establishment, The Grandees: America’s Sephardic Elite, Real Lace: America’s Irish Rich, and Certain People: America’s Black Elite, among others.

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  2. Stephen Birmingham

    Stephen Birmingham

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    Stephen Birmingham (1929–2015) was an American author of more than thirty books. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, he graduated from Williams College in 1953 and taught writing at the University of Cincinnati. Birmingham’s work focuses on the upper class in America. He’s written about the African American elite in Certain People and prominent Jewish society in Our Crowd: The Great Jewish Families of New York, The Grandees: The Story of America’s Sephardic Elite, and The Rest of Us: The Rise of America’s Eastern European Jews. His work also encompasses several novels including The Auerbach Will, The LeBaron Secret, Shades of Fortune, and The Rothman Scandal, and other non-fiction titles such as California Rich, The Grandes Dames, and Life at the Dakota: New York’s Most Unusual Address.

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
664 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Richard S
5.0 out of 5 stars Very engaging book on a topic I did not think I was interested in
Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2022
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I purchased Our Crowd a bit by mistake, on a recommendation for a different book by the same author on a similar subject. Nevertheless, I found it to be very interesting and engaging, opening providing an insider's view of a community that I did not think that I had any interest in and was only dimly aware of. I intend to read the other books in the series as well as other books by Birmingham. I recommend the book highly. Interesting and entertaining.
2 people found this helpful
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Kelley Ridings
4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging history of wealthy German-American Jews
Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2021
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Our Crowd looks at the history of wealthy German-American Jewish families primarily in New York City. This is an interesting book, somewhat a companion volume along the lines of Birmingham’s book The Grandees which examines the lives of wealthy Sephardic Jews in New York City. Birmingham centers this book around the Seligmans, the Lehmans, Schiffs, and the Kahns. Frankly it was all rather confusing to keep them all straight. Most ended up in banking and intermarried a lot, all to keep the wealth and Jewishness among “our crowd”. Mostly I enjoyed the book, except Birmingham’s generous use of foreign words without translation as if we all speak fluent German, or Yiddish. I would have liked to have seen photos of these people he wrote about, a pet peeve of mine in some biographical histories that don’t have them. Otherwise however I enjoyed the book and if this type of wealth history is your thing, as it is for me, then this book is for you.
11 people found this helpful
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Don
5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing read!
Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2018
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Intriguing read. Well written but you need a score card to keep all the characters straight. The author fully explains the effect Jewish families had on the financial history of wall street and evolving businesses in early America. These individuals often came to the United States with little money and even less support. They overcame the discrimination that still exist today for many of these families. Granted the America success stories often occur at the expense of the workers but that's the America capitalism that built this grrat nation.
One person found this helpful
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Ethan Liebermann
3.0 out of 5 stars A bit of a slog
Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2018
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This book dragged on a bit. It was hard to hold my attention steady. The topic is of great interest but the execution was mediocre. There were moments of really fascinating insights but unfortunately they were buried amidst a lot of less interesting writing.
2 people found this helpful
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Art Smart
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating history.
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2021
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This book was written long ago but remains a touchstone detailed study of German Jewish families who can to America. While parts were tedious, over all really well done and interesting to me. If it’s a subject you are interested in, it’s a must-read!
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Michael Lapelosa
4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Story
Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2016
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This book depicts the incredible story of a group of Jewish immigrants, who quite independently from each other, came to America virtually penniless, yet were able to amass vast fortunes!! They came to America from Germany in the nineteenth century, and this handful of Jewish families turned small retail stores into huge enterprises.
I enjoyed reading about how the families created and dominated certain businesses , how despite breathtaking wealth they were barred from mixing with “the 400,” a register of New York’s most elite, because of their religion and humble backgrounds. I was also surprised to learn about the fact that even within the Jewish community, Jews from Spain wanted no part of German and Eastern European Jews.
The author's prose is crisp, and well written. He creates a vivid portraits of the fascinating people involved in the multiple "rags to riches" stories. He also conveys a sense of what New York, and America, was like during this era. These were the aspects of the book that I enjoyed the most. However, I will confess that when the author sought to describe complex, arcane, financial transactions that created the platforms for the families fame and fortunes, I was, at times, lost.
Overall, the author makes this very different time, place and these personalities come alive with nuance, color, context and "flesh and bone". I was entertained and informed. A good, if a times overly tedious, story.
4 people found this helpful
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Philo
5.0 out of 5 stars Very worthwhile financial history, alongside a personal view of these familes in all their doings
Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2014
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Early in the book, I was afraid there would be too much detail of a kind I don't much care for (clothes, manners, statements of stuffy dowagers about commoners, that sort of thing). However, I think this author achieved a fine balance between important details of business and telling details of pleasure, family life, morals, and so on. The financial detail, and the business history as these families moved through various deals and pursuits, turned out very fine. One can see how, with good reason, first British and then American political figures came to rely critically on these German Jewish families to accomplish important financial tasks.
Next stop, and a natural transition from this: "The Warburgs" by Ron Chernow, and "The New Crowd" by J. Ehrlich and B. Rehfeld..
14 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars amazing history of Jewish aristocrats
Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2022
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Trying to remember all the surnames is difficult; however I highly recommend this book. History is great and anecdotes & eccentricities are also.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Gigi
5.0 out of 5 stars A page turner
Reviewed in Canada on January 14, 2021
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No longer new hardcovers available except at unrealistic cost or old, used paperbacks
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Amazon Kunde
5.0 out of 5 stars Zuverlässig
Reviewed in Germany on December 9, 2019
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alles ok
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Brian Korner
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but not always easy to follow
Reviewed in Australia on May 7, 2021
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Thoroughly researched, Iit’s good to have all of this information documented. So many characters, it would have been helpful if the book had included family trees.
One person found this helpful
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Antonio Carlos do Amaral Maia
5.0 out of 5 stars Belo livro
Reviewed in Brazil on July 17, 2016
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Descreve com riqueza de detalhes, a história de homens de negócios, suas famílias, enfatizando a importância dos casamentos para concentrar poder. Muito bom
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M C Flaherty
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 28, 2015
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arrived promptly and as described.
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