The money men - H. W Brands

Most Americans are familiar with the political
history of the United States, but there is
another history woven all through it, a largely
forgotten history-the story of the money men.
Acclaimed historian H. W. Brands brings them
back to life: J. P. Morgan, who stabilized a
foundering U.S. Treasury in 1907; Alexander
Hamilton, who founded the first national bank,
and Nicholas Biddle, under whose directorship it failed; Jay Cooke, who helped to finance the
Union war effort through his then-innovative
strategy of selling bonds to ordinary Americans; and Jay Gould, who tried to corner the market on
gold in 1869 and as a result brought about Black Friday and fled for his life.