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The Vanderbilts

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Originally posted by Diana from NoodleFood,

I recently bought a slew of used books, mostly classic fiction, at a good used bookstore in Denver. While passing by the "Business and Economics" section of the store, a yellow hardcover with "The Vanderbilts" in big letters on the spine caught my attention. I paused to take a look, as I very much enjoyed the dramatic story of Cornelius Vanderbilt told by historian Eric Daniels in his 2003 lecture Vanderbilt and American Free Enterprise. Although the book was a bit pricey, I was sold after reading just the first paragraph of the preface:

This is a history of the Vanderbilt family, with a record of their vicissitudes, and a chronicle of the method by which their wealth has been acquired. It is confidently put forth as a work which should fall into the hands of boys and young men--of all who aspire to become Captains of Industry or leaders of their fellows in the sharp and wholesome competitions of life.

No modern book would dare to start in such a fashion! Not only do those two sentences foreshadow a positive spin on the rapacious robber barons, the book is also clearly intended to inspire young people to such low money-grubbing!

As it turns out, the book is a reprint of The Vanderbilts and the Story of Their Fortune, originally published in 1886. I can't wait to read it.

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