The Hour of Fate

Reviews

Wonderfully detailed . . . [Berfield’s] story is about the past but also very much about the present, as our own Gilded Age raises old questions about inequality, plutocracy . . . a poignant, painful reminder of what a real leader does. Berfield’s wide-angle lens encompasses antitrust law, the details of railroad reorganization, investment banking, politics, coal mining and high living. . . . she can do a lot with only a few words. An extremely skillful blend of wide-canvas exposition and small-scale personal drama . . . impossible to read this clash between big government and big business without thinking about our own century, when American wealth inequality is greater than it was even in Morgan’s day. A lively epic . . . novelistic in tone and historical in substance. Most authors might be content to write about either John Pierpont Morgan, possibly the world’s most famous banker, or Theodore Roosevelt, one of America’s best-loved presidents. But The Hour of Fate by Susan Berfield is richer for tackling them together. . . . Her book vividly brings both men to life. It’s no easy task to write a dual biography while also incorporating the feelings and emotions of the historical moment, yet Berfield accomplishes all of this. An extremely readable work that will engage American history and business readers everywhere. A tale of greed, power, and accountability, an epic story of a clash of titans, one a political dynamo, the other unparalleled in business savvy. Out of their struggle, a new nation emerged, one that could flex its muscles and cause private enterprise to shudder, instead of the other way around as it had been before. . . Today, as the United States barrels its way into the 21st century, with business behemoths like Amazon and Apple treading in the footsteps of Morgan’s Northern Securities, one can only wonder when and where the next trust buster will arise. Ambitiously juggles several historic threads from a turbulent time in America: soaring immigration, labor unrest in the face of low wages and dangerous conditions, the seemingly untrammeled ambitions of big business, and the clamor for public accountability and oversight . . . An engaging historical work involving truly larger-than-life American characters. Susan Berfield has written the rare book that makes you look at both the past and present in a new light. Deeply researched and beautifully written, The Hour of Fate tells the gripping tale of how a clash between the most powerful force in the history of Wall Street and a young, popular president set the stage for our current debates over the role and limits of wealth in a democracy. Narrative nonfiction at its best. Susan Berfield brings to life the conflict between two of America's most powerful men, J.P. Morgan and Theodore Roosevelt, and reveals how their battle over democracy and corporate power reshaped America. Written with verve and a perceptive eye for detail, The Hour of Fate artfully brings to life two of our nation’s most celebrated personalities, caught in an astonishing drama even larger than themselves. It is impossible to read Berfield’s fast-paced and entertaining account of events a century ago without gaining deeper insight into the momentous events we wrestle with today. The Gilded Age meets the Progressive Era head-on in Susan Berfield’s gripping account of the Northern Securities case and of the 1902 coal famine crisis, when unlikely allies J.P. Morgan and Theodore Roosevelt joined forces against a looming winter without warmth or fuel. Well-researched and expertly told, this story of haves and have-nots—and a country at the precipice—speaks to our own precarious times, and will fascinate readers of financial and labor history. The Gilded Age created many a millionaire and many an impoverished worker. Between those opposites stood American politicians, some corrupted by wealth, others determined to redress the economic gulfs that American industry might have created . . . Berfield well portrays the major characters of this struggle without excessive detail, and her insights into both Roosevelt and Morgan make them seem quite contemporary. A vivid account of the early 20th-century battle of wills between President Theodore Roosevelt and financier J.P. Morgan. . . Weaving together the perspectives of labor, capital, and government, Berfield . . . finds drama in complex and potentially dry business transactions, and makes insightful comparisons to today’s progressive movement. This entertaining account will resonate with American history buffs and those who agree with Berfield that ‘the battle to make American capitalism more fair rages just as furiously’ today as it did at the turn of the last century. Excellent topic. Excellent scope. Excellent writing. Susan Berfield’s THE HOUR OF FATE takes on an explosive time of transition in our nation by focusing on the two titans most central to the fight: Theodore Roosevelt and J.P. Morgan. . . . Finely nuanced . . . The focused scope of the book impresses immediately. A masterful work of nonfiction. Events occurring more than a century ago come alive in an almost prescient sense of current affairs. Susan Berfield profiles her two subjects adeptly, conveying their value to the world, yet contrasting that with their foibles that made them just as human as the rest of the populace. This is A+ work. A well-written narrative that reads like a novel. . . Most important, [Berfield] has produced a book that speaks as much to the early-21st-century concentration of economic power as it does to that of the early 20th century. Incredibly well written and researched, this book follows the early 20th Century feud between President Theodore Roosevelt and financier JP Morgan as the young president takes it upon himself to address the social ills of the Gilded Age. . . The book’s backdrop of economic inequality, powerful big business and public debate around the proper role of government in regulating the worst excesses of capitalism is of course highly relevant still in 2020 as we grapple with tax avoidance, tokenistic gestures of philanthropy (with a few notable exceptions), and rising poverty both globally and in the US. A majestic study in personality, politics and policies that still echo today. Expand reviews