A new biog­ra­phy of the Roth­schilds, look­ing at how they emerged from the squalor of the Frank­furt ghet­to to become one of the wealth­i­est and most pow­er­ful fam­i­lies in Europe. A dynasty that is still going strong after 250 years and sev­en gen­er­a­tions, they are dis­tin­guished by their com­mit­ment to phil­an­thropy, their influ­ence with gov­ern­ments and cor­po­ra­tions and their remark­able per­son­al achieve­ments. Abused through­out their his­to­ry by anti­semites, as if they were prox­ies for all Jews, the Roth­schilds have nev­er risen to the bait, remain­ing dig­ni­fied in their refusal to respond to their abusers. This book tells a fas­ci­nat­ing his­to­ry of the fam­i­ly and the part they played, through their wealth, con­nec­tions and tal­ents, in the devel­op­ment of the mod­ern world. Freed­man is the author of many books, includ­ing biogra­phies of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen and Shylock’s Venice, a his­to­ry of the Venice Ghetto.