"Our Crowd": The Great Jewish Families of New York

by Stephen Birmingham

Overview

“A fascinating and absorbing chapter of New York social and financial history—it is hard to understand why it has never been written before.” —Louis Auchincloss

“When it comes to the folkways of the rich, the powerful, and the privileged, Stephen Birmingham knows what he’s talking about.” —Los Angeles Times

“Future American histories will have to take into account Mr. Birmingham’s financial and social history and imposing cast of characters.” —The New York Times Book Review

Among the Jewish families who emigrated from Germany to New York in the nineteenth century were the Loebs, the Goldmans, the Sachs, the Seligmans, and the Guggenheims, to name only a few. In New York, they quickly made their way from the Lower East Side to the Upper East Side, building vast fortunes by dint of hard work and moving from the tenements where they initially lived to exquisite mansions on Park Avenue and Fifth Avenue. Yet, despite their acquired wealth, they were denied entry into the upper reaches of New York society—the so-called 400—because of their religion, modest origins, and recent arrival in America. “Our Crowd” tells the engrossing story of the extraordinary society they built in New York.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493057757
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	03/01/2021
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	373,430
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

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.

Editorial Reviews

“You don’t have to live on Manhattan’s West Side to appreciate this gossipy history of New York’s oldest apartment building. . . . A lively story.” —Kirkus Reviews

“When it comes to the folkways of the rich, the powerful, and the privileged, Stephen Birmingham knows what he’s talking about.” —Los Angeles Times

From the Publisher

Narrator Mel Foster enthusiastically delivers this history of New York German-Jewish merchant/banking families, including the Seligmans, the Lehmans, and the Goldmans, which was originally published in 1967. A rich atmospheric picture of this close-knit, family-centered society, later known as "The 100" or "Our Crowd," is evoked by Foster's warm tone and conversational pacing. Listeners are transported to the early nineteenth century as Foster portrays the humble origins of several ambitious young Jewish men who emigrated from Germany and, along with their male relations, peddled goods all over America. Touches of humor come through in Foster's rendering of the practices and routines of these businessmen and their socially conscious wives. An evocative portrait of a segment of American society, well told and narrated. M.J. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

AUGUST 2019 - AudioFile